16th Name of Sashima Makimoto
by Samurai's Revenge
Summary: When the fate of the world rests on the shoulders of a young hybrid woman, she may need the help of the Z warriors to defeat the evil and rescue Earth, Heaven, and Hell from total chaos...
1. Departure

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 1 - The Departure  
  
  
  
She stood looking up at the three-storied police station. Station #11, Precinct #4, her place for the past two years, yet she was still the youngest officer that the station had ever had. Looking back on the previous two years, she wondered just how she had ever managed to get accepted.  
  
She chuckled inwardly to herself. Maybe it was the way she looked was why the police captain had signed her up so quickly. Or maybe it was her various attitudes that were the charm. Maybe it was the sense that wherever she went, people noticed that there was just something different about her. But that didn't matter to her at the moment.  
  
Pushing aside the glass doors of the station and entering the lobby, she casually looked around. Good, she thought. None of the officers that knew her were on duty, and she walked right past the officer who was at the desk. He was apparently asleep, and she made a mental note to herself to report this lack of duty.   
  
Making her way to the elevators at the back of the lobby, she pressed the button for the upper floors. Glancing around at the brightly lit area, she sighed with impatience. Maybe it was better if she had taken the easy way up…but no…she had promised herself years ago that she would never use them except when it was absolutely necessary.  
  
It seemed like an eternity before the elevator doors pulled open, but she was relieved when they finally did. Stepping in, she wondered why she felt such mistrust to this place. Being there for two years, she should've gotten rid of all senses of nervousness and insecurity, yet she hadn't. There was a continuous feeling that someone out there was watching her. She could always sense it, though she never could quite place where it was coming from. Well, she thought, she never was quite normal…  
  
Arriving on the third floor, she made her way to her captain's office. The hallway leading down to it was dark, dank, and had a sense of foreboding. It reminded her of the time when she was three and had gotten stuck in her grandmother's laundry closet. She had banged on the door for about half an hour before she was finally found, and at that time the laundry closet, too, was like that hallway. Dark, dank, and you never knew what was at the end of it.  
  
"Damn those lights…" she muttered to herself. In the 50-year-old building, no one bothered to do anything when things were broken. Half the dim lights in the corridor had been out for weeks and still no one had replaced them.  
  
She finally arrived at her captain's office, and seeing that he was still inside, she rapped sharply three times on the glass pane.  
  
There was a hurried shuffling of papers and the sound of glass breaking. She smiled to herself. He was always clumsy and disorganized.  
  
"Who is it?" The voice from inside was deep and slightly nasal.  
  
"It's me."  
  
"Come in."  
  
She turned the doorknob and entered her captain's office. It was basically the same as the last time she had been there. In a corner of the room were filing cabinets, keeping records on police officers, suspects, cases, and crimes. In the opposite corner stood the bookshelf, stacked and piled with books of various sorts that had to do with crime. In the back of the room, in front of the window overlooking the brilliant lights of downtown, was the desk, cluttered with assorted paper, files, a briefcase, and a nasty brown coffee stain spreading quickly over the latter.  
  
The man madly scrambling to rescue his papers from the furiously spreading brown liquid was in his mid-forties, tall, lean and muscular. He had graying blonde hair and a mustache to match. Looking up, he saw the young woman staring at him in an amused sort of manner and quickly recomposed himself.  
  
"Ah, you came. I'm sorry for the state of my office…ever since Veronica left I never thought that I couldn't organize it myself. Guess I was wrong…" he grinned sheepishly and continued, "Please, take a seat and--"  
  
"No, it's okay David. I came to tell you that I am taking a temporary leave of my job."  
  
There was a silence. She swore that she could hear the pounding of David's anxious heart.  
  
"But…but…" his deep blue eyes reflected the shock that he felt, "you can't leave! You're one of our best officers! Without you, what would this area be?? There will be chaos in downtown Harakatsuma! Criminals won't be caught, citizens will be killed, dangerous operations will continue!"  
  
"I'm sorry David…I truly am…it's just that…" she fingered her long red hair, "it's just that…after two years with the police force…it seems that I'm missing something in my life…I need to find that something David."  
  
"But you can't!" a note of panic rose in his voice. "The crime rate went down by 40% when you joined two years ago! What would the citizens be without you?" He stared into her eyes. His aqua blue ones piercing her red, cat-like ones. "Please…don't leave." Suddenly he rushed around his desk and came up to face her. Taking her by the shoulders, he spoke softly.  
  
"The city is an unsafe place as it is right now. After…after…that last disaster that happened to McMillan, Stevens, and Williams, we can't lose any more officers right now…the rest of them are just incompetent…they still need to go back to training. Please, on my behalf stay. I'll raise your pay, I'll give you a promotion, I'll do anything!"  
  
The look in his eyes tore her heart from her. She didn't want to disappoint him, but she had to go with her original plan. She took a deep breath and started once more.  
  
"Look…David…I know that these are tough times, but the city does not need me. It got along fine before I joined…and I'm only going away for about two weeks…in the meantime…" she paused and thought. What was the best way? "In the meantime…get some of the reserves to cover for me…and I promise I'll be back soon…" The pain she was feeling towards him ached at the bottom of her heart. She didn't want to leave, yet it was the best for everyone.  
  
The pain on David's face was difficult to look at. She turned her head away so she would not have to look when he spoke his next words.  
  
"Fine…I…I know there's no way that I can stop you once you make your mind up on something…" his voice suddenly became serious, "when you come back I expect you to be 100% dedicated to this precinct again, do you understand?"  
  
She looked back into those radiant blue eyes of his. "Yes, sir. I promise that I will."  
  
"Good. You may leave now. And…I hope that you will find what you are looking for…" David trailed off.   
  
She nodded and made for the door. "Thank you for understanding, David." She turned back around. "Your officer at the front desk is asleep again. You should really wake him up."  
  
"Don't worry. I will."  
  
"Good-bye David. I will return in about two weeks." The door closed silently behind her.  
  
Once out in the hall again, she did not head for the elevators. Instead, she made her way to her own office. Turning right at the forensics' lab, she noticed that the light in her office at the far end of the hall was already lit.  
  
"Strange, I don't remember leaving it on when I left this afternoon…"  
  
Silently making her way to the office, she pressed herself flat against the wall, cautiously turned the doorknob and peeked inside. There was no one, and everything was in the exact order that she had left it in a few hours earlier. Stepping inside, she headed for the wooden desk.  
  
"What was that?" Her senses on alert, she detected a faint whirring sound. It got louder with every passing second, and seemed to come from the roof above her.  
  
"Oh my God…" The ceiling was enclosing in on her, a swirling mist of darkness, a vortex into a place unknown. The blackness crept nearer and nearer until the entire office was engulfed and obscured in shadows. Clawing at the desk to support herself, she could not feel it. There was nothing around her. It was empty. She tried to stand but could not, as her legs had turned to stone and would not move. A sudden movement under her felt like the floor had just collapsed. She could feel herself falling, deeper and deeper into the vortex; her brain was in a whirl, senseless, she could hardly feel anything anymore.   
  
As soon as it had happened, it all ended. The darkness was replaced by the brightness of what she thought was an afternoon sun, and the ground underneath her felt solid once more. She tried to get up, but her arms had little strength to raise herself. She was too weary. Slumping back onto the ground, she fell into unconsciousness. 


	2. Fire in the Sky

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 2 - Fire in the Sky  
  
  
  
The shrill calls of the seagulls and the pounding of the rapid surf on the desolate cliff walls awoke her with a start. She looked, bewildered, in all directions around her, yet look as she might, she was not in any place as desirable as she wanted. Instead of the radiant sunshine that would normally overwhelm the seaside, she found herself shrouded in the shadows. In the place for the dry sand that gave life a sense of peace, there was ugly dirt that clogged her fingernails as she carelessly ran her hand through it. The calls of the seagulls were replaced by the angry honks and screeching of brakes and the impudent roar of engines nearby. It had all been a mere dream.  
  
She leaned back onto the dampened stone wall and gazed at the crystalline blue skies that stretched eternally above her, pondering the questions that soaked through her brain like the coffee had soaked David's papers just minutes before. Where was she? How had she gotten to this…this place? Her head was still throbbing furiously in her head as she struggled to recall what had happened. She remembered returning to her office, and as she had arrived at her desk, the mysterious vortex had somehow broken through her ceiling and enveloped her into it. Falling great depths, she had ended up to her present location in the shadowy alleyway.  
  
Her eyes wandered to the end of the alley, where the brightness of the afternoon summer rays were as inviting as the Siren's calls to Odysseus' men. Gathering every ounce of strength she had, she managed to grasp a secure hold on the wall behind her, willing her weakened legs to support her   
  
"What the hell is wrong with me??" It took an enormous effort to get herself to walk forward, shuffling every step of the way, a tedious journey until she at last reached the clean, cemented sidewalks out of the musty alleyway that she had emerged from. Cursing to herself, her breath caught in her throat as she at length became aware of the surrounding environment.  
  
One gaze on the street that she stood on gave the instinct that she was not in a humble town, but a bustling metropolitan. People of all ages jammed the sidewalks, hastening in every which way to their destinations. Colorful shops of all sorts lined the sidewalks. Magnificent clothing stores, fancy cafes and restaurants, modern coffee houses, hangouts for younger adults and teens. Stores selling electronics, furniture, antiques, stores stocked with just about anything that there ever needed to be sold. Cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles teemed like schools of fish in the congested streets. In the near distance, she could make out the looming skyscrapers and their beauty against the cerulean skies. In all clamor that this city managed to make, she was surprised that her heart felt a sense of tranquility, one that she had not felt since she had joined the police force back in Harakatsuma.  
  
She managed to snap out of her wondrous state long enough to realize that she was still standing in the center of the sidewalk, hundreds of people streaming by her in every which direction. This was still an unknown place, and finding out just where she was seemed to be a wise action to take.  
  
Before she could tap the shoulder of a passerby though, sudden movements made her turn her face to the sky. Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun and brushing her red locks out of her way, the outline of a plane was gradually coming into view. Twin-engine and silver in color, it trailed behind it a banner that read the following message: "Welcome to Satan City"  
  
Bewildered with shock, the information sunk into her like a dead weight hitting the ocean's bottom. She had already traveled the world many times over, and in all that, no one had ever known a place that existed on Earth by the name of Satan City.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Dad do you have the design for the new gravity machine done yet?" The blue-haired woman peered intently at the figures and data that she had just received through her computers in her Capsule Corporation laboratory. Fiddling with the keys, she was able to process the calculations into data and statistics necessary for the gravity management of the soon-to-be-built gravity machine.   
  
Dr. Briefs raised a hand to the back of his head and scratched his lavender-colored hair. "Well, I have the design all planned out, although I must say with the amount of power that Vegeta has, I doubt that it would hold for a very long amount of time." Skepticism flooded the middle-aged man, revealing in truth that deep down inside of him, the gravity machine would not hold at all.  
  
"Oh come on Dad! Capsule Corp. has the most advanced technology available in the world!" Bulma Briefs entered a few more numbers into her computer. "There! That should do it! If we plan accordingly to these measurements and figures, the gravity machine would do fairly well against even Vegeta's strongest outbursts. Or…for the moment I suppose," she added as an afterthought, "once he gets stronger though, we'll probably need to add on a couple more adjustments."  
  
"Well Bulma, I trust your judgment on this one…" Dr. Briefs' face was crossed with worry, yet there was a smile on his face. Like himself, he knew that his daughter would make Capsule Corporation greater than ever. "When do we start work on this gravity chamber?"  
  
"Right now." Getting off of the leather chair, she made her way to the doors leading out of the laboratory. She paused before going through them. "Oh and Dad? I'll meet you in Section 4 on the northern area of the C.C. grounds okay? I need to tell Vegeta of this."  
  
"You go ahead Bulma, just don't try to provoke him. He's one dangerous person." The black cat on Dr. Briefs' shoulder meowed in agreement.  
  
"Don't worry Dad, I can handle him! I mean, what's the worse that he can do to me?" Bulma left the lab, leaving Dr. Briefs to his own worries.  
  
He slowly shook his head. "Bulma, was it such a good idea to let him stay here?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma slowly made her way along the corridors, pausing to reflect how Vegeta had managed to end up living at Capsule Corporation with her and her family. It seemed so long ago when the Saiyan Radditz had arrived on Earth and told Goku who he really was, that Goku himself was a Saiyan and not an Earthling. Radditz had kidnapped young Gohan, and even though Piccolo had managed to destroy Radditz, he had to destroy Goku as well. Before Radditz had been killed though, he had alerted more Saiyans about the dragonballs, and in a matter of time, Tien, Krillin, Chaotzu, and Yamcha went off to train with King Kai. The Saiyans had arrived a year later, Nappa and Vegeta, destroying cities and wrecking havoc. No one was a match for the Saiyans, not even Gohan who had been trained by Piccolo. All hope seemed lost until Goku was wished back by the dragonballs. Vegeta killed Nappa for not being able to defeat Goku, and the battle commenced between Goku and Vegeta. In the end, Vegeta was let off alive by Goku, getting into his space pod and blasting off into space. In all this fighting, Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, and Chaotzu managed to get killed, and there was no hope for bringing them back. She had had to journey to planet Namek with Krillin and Gohan to find the dragonballs there, only to find out that Freeza was after them as well. Goku had reached the level of Super Saiyan on Namek, and many lives were destroyed by Freeza, including Krillin's, Vegeta's, and many Nameks'. Once back on Earth, they used their first wish to bring back all of their friends. The second wish they used to bring back all the good people killed by Freeza, which included Vegeta. The last wish was intentioned to bring back Goku because they assumed him dead, yet he wasn't, and had recently returned to Earth from the planet Yardat. So the last wish was used to make a new planet Namek for the Namekians to live on. But Vegeta had needed a place to stay as well, and feeling sorry for him that he had no family or friends or anywhere else to go, she suggested Capsule Corporation.   
  
She sighed, wondering what Vegeta thought about living on Earth. He was a strange person, she had to admit. He kept mostly to himself, saying little to everyone else. He usually woke before she did, flying off to the forests on the edge of the corporation to train and returning only for food, which he consumed vast quantities of. Returning to the forests, he would come back to the corporation late at night. The next day would be a repeat of the previous day. Sometimes, just for no reason, he would pick verbal fights with her, but so far he had not caused any major trouble.  
  
Working her way through the maze of halls, she arrived at the exit closest to the forest. Pushing aside the door, the warm summer air met her with a most comfortable feeling that reached all the way to the tips of her toes.   
  
"Now where is that Vegeta??" crossing her arms across her chest, Bulma proceeded in the direction of the forest, only to hear a deafening blast coming from the sky. "What the hell…"  
  
The blast came from a silver plane that was hovering over the heart of Satan City, smoke emitting from its' tail wing and losing altitude fast. Flying away from the damaged plane was Vegeta.  
  
"Vegeta!!! You get back here this instance!!!" Bulma yelled into the sky, only she knew it was hopeless. He was too far away to hear her.  
  
"Damn that Vegeta…" the plane seemed to linger in the still air, yet its' tail wing was still on fire. Sparks flew like daytime fireworks, and another explosion shocked the plane, this time closer to the middle part of it. It looked as if the plane would break apart at any moment now.  
  
Bulma just had to do something. Whether it was to stop Vegeta or to save the people onboard the plane, it didn't matter to her now. Jamming a hand into the back pocket of her jean shorts, she withdrew a capsule and threw it onto the ground. In an instance, it had transformed into her own four-seat helicopter. Sliding the door open, she clambered inside and took a seat at the controls.  
  
"Vegeta, I'm going to get you for this…" Gritting her teeth till the roots gave an immense pain, she started the engine. The blades of the helicopter gave a creak and started to spin, faster and faster until the ground surrounding the plane was blown flat. Her right hand on the throttle, she pulled it back.   
  
Slowly, the helicopter rose from the ground and began to gain altitude. Bulma turned it around and flew off in the direction of downtown Satan City.  
  
* * * * *  
  
It seemed only seconds ago the plane was gliding smoothly over Satan City. The next few moments, she had watched in horror as something resembling a bullet had flown over the plane's tail wing. She couldn't decipher what it was, only that it was a person, but the swift action had somehow made the plane's tail become an inferno of orange-red heat.   
  
With each passing moment the plane sank lower and lower in the sky…she estimated it to be a mere one thousand feet above where she and the other citizens of Satan City stood and watched in awe, fear, and panic. The street that she had been on seemed more packed with people than ever. All traffic had ceased; people had gotten out of their vehicles to stare up at the spectacle in the sky. More people flooded out of the shops and joined the pedestrians on the sidewalks, and there was an air of turmoil and confusion. Women were screaming, little children just stared in wonder, not understanding, babies were crying out loud at the disorder on the streets, and there were shouts by police officers for the people to clear out if the plane was unable to land in the nearby ocean waters.   
  
"What is that helicopter trying to do??" A red and white copter had arrived on the scene and was advancing towards the doomed plane, yet she could tell that it was neither a police copter nor one from the military. It was flying a precautious fifty feet from the plane that was releasing the dangerous flames into the air.  
  
She watched in terror as the plane already on fire suddenly burst into a ball of flames, sending some of the fire and embers onto the rotor of the nearby helicopter.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma Briefs stabbed the controls on the control panel for the helicopter. Making a slight whirring noise, it's engine kicked into full power. Her sights set on the flaming jet already starting to fall, she made a mental note just how far she should approach. She dared not come within range of the fire; her life was in grave danger just by doing so, going into the air.  
  
Soon she had spotted the pilot of the aircraft. She noticed the sweat cascading down his panic-stricken face, yet he seemed abnormally young to be controlling an aircraft. No more than eighteen she was ready to bet. He looked ready to give way to the heat of the fire that licked furiously closer and closer to his cockpit, and in the confusion and fright of the situation, he had forgotten the procedure that needed to be done in an emergency like the one he was in.  
  
She picked up her radio and called into it, "Aircraft AF872, do you read me? Aircraft AF872? Hello?? Is anyone there?? Aircraft AF872??! Damn that idiot turned his radio off!" Well she would just have to signal him the manual way, she thought.  
  
Bulma waved her arms madly at him, desperately wishing that he would see her.   
  
"Hey! Hey you! Look over here!" her frantic waving still was not able to attract his attention.  
  
After about thirty seconds which Bulma felt immensely frustrated and worried if she would be able to contact him in time, the young pilot was finally able to spot her. She signaled for him to put the lever under his seat, which would enable him to eject out of his seat and out of the aircraft. A wave of relief washed over his reddened face, and Bulma gave him the thumbs up sign. Within a spilt second, he had pulled the lever and had gotten safely out of his craft.  
  
And not all too soon either. The angry flames at last found their target, eating at the engine. Unfortunately, Bulma saw this a spilt second too late.  
  
The aircraft blasted itself into a million fiery portions, sending clumps of burned pieces and parts straight at Bulma's helicopter. The tremendous cloud of ashen-gray smoke billowed out into the sky, shielding Bulma's view of what was in front of her. Suddenly, red lights and warning signals flashed on her control panel.  
  
"Damn! This can't be happening!" Urgently she turned knobs, pulled levels, and punched keys, but the plane still emitted the deafening sirens and the red warning lights. A computerized voice came on and said in it's technical voice, "Warning. Engines not responding. All systems failure."  
  
Stomach frozen as cold as the Arctic winds and her heart pumping with fear in her throat, the plane plummeted into a rapid nosedive. It was only a matter of seconds before it would hit the ground.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The first craft burst into a sphere of intense flames, plunging swiftly. She prayed that it would not hit land but the nearby water, and was relieved to see that the pilot had gotten himself out in time and was drifting slowly downwards in his parachute. Her gaze now directed at the second craft, she gasped out loud.   
  
"It's going to blow!" a woman nearby exclaimed to her children. "It won't make the ocean! Let's get out of here!" pushing through the crowd, a wave of alarm extended through the people in the area.   
  
"She's right! We're all doomed!"  
  
"Someone please save us!"  
  
"Mommyy!!! Where are you?!!"  
  
It was chaos like it was never seen before. In all her years with the police force, there was nothing like it. Men, women, and children scrambling to get as far away as possible. The young and the old alike in a state of panic, confusion, and getting in the way of one another. Cars and other vehicles madly attempting to escape the doom that would unmistakably fall.   
  
The police were not any better off in terms of their calmness. Most were severely agitated, and the ones who had just a minute sense of their minds left were shouting at the mass of people to clear out. In fact, the people needn't have been told. The streets were finally clearing.  
  
"I've got to do something before that plane explodes and kills the person inside!" she clenched her teeth and summoned up as much strength as she could muster. It was not enough.  
  
"Come on! Clear out! Get away from here!" police officers were shouting at the last few citizens who would not leave the scene. Anxious to get away themselves, they gave one last look at her and fled with the rest.  
  
Its' rotor engulfed in flames, the helicopter entered a steep nosedive straight at her. 


	3. Past Things Hurt

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 3 - The Past  
  
  
  
She didn't hesitate to contemplate what her next move would be. Summoning every ounce of will power that she possessed, and attempting to regain the little ki that remained in her wearied body, she drove her teeth straight into her tongue, the excruciating pain reverberating through every inch of her body. Finally there was the snap in the back of the brain that signaled that there was enough. It was hardly adequate, yet it was the best she could ever desire for in her present condition.  
  
A silent whistling in her ears foretold that she had arrived at her destination. In the cockpit of the damaged and rapidly plunging aircraft, the blue-haired woman at the controls was mad with panic. Sweat ran down her blanched face, her hands gripping the edge of her leather seat as her eyes slammed shut to the undeniable death that was certain to result from the crash.  
  
"Oh God, please let it be quick and painless. Please take care--"  
  
"Hang on!" She gripped the blue-haired woman's shoulder, hastily focusing her energy within herself. Beneath her, the ground speed closer and closer to meet them, its lips inching closer and closer for the kiss.  
  
Several more seconds and undoubtedly the impact would tear the plane apart. Once again she bit her tongue, the metallic taste of blood itching to spill into her stomach, nauseating her already at the moment. The snap in the back of her brain, the distant faint echo of a whistle and they were on their way.  
  
The two women slammed hard against the concrete panels of a nearby rooftop, the force temporarily jolting their bones and causing their brains to rattle in the crevices of their skulls. Down below, the sound of distant thunder resounded throughout Satan City, metal and aluminum blazing in the rapidly spreading fire of the plane. Sparks and burning embers leaped high off the ground, landing amid the tops of the lower buildings and quickly setting off the colors of red and orange on them as well. Amongst the raging fire down below, the air attained a vast quantity of thick black smoke, thicker and more malevolent than before. Carried by the slight breeze, it directed itself eastward, away from the two women who were still flung askew on the rooftop.  
  
Bulma was the first to recover. She glanced over to the woman across from her, propped on the chimney pipes for support. At first look, she seemed about several years younger than she was, maybe at twenty-three or twenty-four years of age, with smooth hair the color of blood drawn up into a loose ponytail, a few strands already out of place. Her eyes were a stunning scarlet, ones Bulma had never seen before, and ones that she would never forget.  
  
She suddenly recalled what had happened and realized with a start why she was once again on the rooftop, panting for air but alive nevertheless, instead of having the scorching flames lick at her charred remains.  
  
"Thank-thank you for saving me," Bulma did not intend to stutter her words, yet the disbelief at what had just happened was just slowing sinking it. "If it weren't for you, I would be burned toast by now. For that I'm truly grateful…are you alright?"  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. It's just this heat and all…" she trailed off; her hand automatically went to her forehead and took a swipe at the accumulated perspiration. "I'm just glad that you are okay. For a moment I thought I was too late." A sheepish grin crossed her worn-out face.  
  
Bulma chucked good naturedly, "I thought so too. When the plane started to fall, I thought that there was no more hope left and I've been a goner if you hadn't gotten it…" In real perspective, the urge of asking this young woman how she had done what she had done was almost too much to hold in. She had only seen Goku do what she had witnessed about her, so was it possible that she was a Saiyan? No, it couldn't be possible. The only two full-blooded Saiyans alive on this Earth were Goku and Vegeta, and Vegeta did not have any children, and Goku only had Gohan as a son. So if she was a Saiyan, where had she come from? No, she could probably run out that theory. It was a dull pain, this desire to ask all about her, yet she restrained herself from doing so. Instead she asked her, "What is your name?"  
  
"Sashima. And yours?"  
  
"Bulma. Bulma Briefs."  
  
"It's good to meet you Bulma…although under these circumstances I wouldn't describe it as anything near good. We should probably head out of here if we don't want to walk through a wall of flames on our way out."  
  
Bulma nodded her agreement and rose to her feet. She eyed Sashima with concern as she hesitantly pulled herself up on shaky legs. She voiced her concern once more.  
  
"Are you sure you're okay? Here, let me help."  
  
"No…it's okay seriously…I'm just--"  
  
An unexpected wave of dizziness overcame her at that moment. Swallowing up the contents of her thoughts, the world once again started to spin, faster and faster until she could no longer make out Bulma in front of her. Mist crept in from the hidden cracks, thick as the smoke still rising from the burning plane. Her legs snapped stiff as if dipped in starch, and the last thing she heard was Bulma yelling frantically at her to get up. Then all was darkness.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"How is she going to be?" Bulma asked, concern in her voice.  
  
"Well…" the head doctor checked his clipboard and glanced once more at the patient still lying unconscious in the hospital bed. "Her breathing and heart rates are at normal right now, so I don't see any major complications. She has been under a lot of stress though, and she has an abnormal energy level, yet for the moment there is some difficulty to getting that energy to cooperate. She is very weak right now, and we have yet to determine what the underlying cause of that is right now."  
  
"Will she need to be on anything? Medication? Or…anything else that is necessary?"  
  
"No…not at the moment, she doesn't. She seems like a perfectly healthy person, from the tests that we ran on her. Although…" he hesitated, debating whether he should reveal the information or not.  
  
"Although what? What is it??" Bulma demanded. She would not forgive herself if anything happened to Sashima when she had risked her own neck to save her from her foolish actions.  
  
"Well…" the doctor backed away as Bulma inched dangerously closer and closer to him, having nothing but a clipboard to shield himself from her fury if she did tried to launch an anger attack on him. "When we took blood samples from her, her blood was…very peculiar…"  
  
"In what way?"  
  
"Normal humans would have either a Type A, B, AB, or O blood. Her blood does not fit into any of those categories. Also, her blood cells are constantly morphing, which normal cells do not do…"  
  
"Morphing? What do you mean by morphing?" Bulma gazed through the glass window and into the room, Sashima still not awake. A chill ran down her spine at what Sashima might possibly be able to do if she WAS able to morph. She just hoped that she wasn't that kind of a person…  
  
"When we mean by morphing, her blood cells do not take in nutrients, expand, and then kill themselves. Every few moments, we noticed that her cells seemed to have a mind of their own--they travel at speeds ten times those of normal cells and they constantly attack one another. It's almost like an inner battle within herself among those red blood cells of hers."  
  
"But we consider this abnormal for humans?" Even though Bulma was a genius, her field was in technology, not medicine.  
  
"In this case, yes, we do consider it abnormal, although we see this as no health risk to Miss Sashima. But that isn't the most unusual thing we've noticed about her…"  
  
"What else is there?" A sense of guilt stuck in Bulma's heart. She didn't want to interrogate the doctor for information on the younger woman's personal health, yet her curiosity was an aching pain in the back--she had to get some answers.  
  
The head doctor adjusted his glasses and spoke. "From the bone density results we've obtained, her bones are remarkably stronger than an average person's, yet they are far more flexible. In fact, she might just be able to twist her own arm into a loop if she tried, maybe."  
  
"That IS strange…" said Bulma. Once again, she looked at the figure on the bed. She seemed far better off than when she had brought her in an hour ago; at least some of the color had returned to her face and she wasn't the color of her sheets anymore. Still, it was a little nerve-racking to find the person that had saved her life in her own hospital.  
  
"May I go in to see her?" she inquired.  
  
"Certainly. As soon as she wakes up, you can tell her that she can leave in a couple of days."  
  
"Thank you Dr. Willis. I appreciate what you've done for her."  
  
"It was no problem, Ms. Briefs." His eyes shifted to the steel clock on the wall in front of him. "I'd better go now, Ms. Briefs. One of my other patients would be waiting. Tell me if there are any more problems." With that, he hurried down the corridor and turned out of sight.  
  
Bulma pushed the door open and closed it gently behind her. Taking a chair by the bed, she waited for Sashima to wake up.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"No…no…stay away from me…I said get away…NOOOO!!" Sashima stirred in her unconscious state, her eyes shut tightly as if forcing images from her head, sweat starting to pour down her face once again. She clutched the sheets around her, gripping them until her knuckles turned a ghostly white. It seemed as if she was in mental torture.  
  
"What…? Stay away from…?" said Bulma, a bemused expression on her face, "Sashima, are you awake yet?" The sky outside the window had already turned a magnificent orange--dusk was approaching. Bulma glanced at her watch: 7:23 P.M. Had she actually dozed off in the hospital room for two hours?  
  
She got up from her chair and strode over to the bedside. Sashima was calling out incoherent phrases in her state. Bulma could hardly understand what she was saying, yet from the emotion and pain on Sashima's face, it was definitely not cheerful thoughts.  
  
"Come on, wake up…" Bulma urged.  
  
There were more mumblings of speech. Slowly, the phrases became more and more sporadic, and pretty soon Sashima was not speaking at all. Her eyes carefully opened to take in the scene before her. Looking around, the dazed look gave off the fact that she was plainly confused. At long last, she spotted Bulma. Slowly, she raised herself from the bed.  
  
"Where…where am I?" she asked.  
  
"Don't worry," Bulma replied, reassuringly, "this is the hospital wing of Capsule Corporation. You would get some of the best medical treatment here, so please don't worry. You're in absolutely good hands."  
  
Sashima smiled. It was a mischievous smile, yet it had an honest look about it. "Thank you for bringing me here, Bulma. It must've been very upsetting of you to bring me all the way from that building."  
  
"Well…to tell the truth, I did get panicky again…" Bulma paused to reflect back on what had happened several hours earlier. "I was really scared that you had died of exhaustion or something like that and the fire just made it worse. It had seriously started to burn onto the building, and I couldn't carry you all the way down…but then I remembered the capsules that I always carry with me. I got out another one of the helicopters and flew my way here."  
  
"Capsules? What are capsules?" Sashima was genuinely confused. She had never heard of anything called a "capsule" before, except when used in the medical professions.  
  
Bulma was shocked. Ever since her dad had invented capsules and started Capsule Corporation, they had been distributed far across the world, and practically everyone knew about capsules nowadays. Or at least she thought so.  
  
"Capsules are…well they're really hard to describe. Oh here!" Bulma dug in her back pocket and drew out her capsule case. "See?" She took one out and showed her. "If you press this little button here…" She delicately pressed it and her makeup case popped out.   
  
"Wow…that's amazing…we don't have those where I come from," said Sashima.  
  
"Seriously you don't?" Bulma recapsuled her makeup case and slipped it back in with the other capsules. "Where are you from? You're not from anywhere near Satan City are you?"  
  
"No, I'm not. I come from Harakatsuma--"  
  
Bulma gasped out loud. Harakatsuma…it couldn't be…  
  
"What's wrong?" Sashima asked, puzzlement written across her face.  
  
"Well…it's just that you said you came from Harakatsuma…"  
  
"…and?"  
  
Bulma took a deep breath before she spoke. This woman honestly did not know what she was talking about. Either that or she really WAS from a Harakatsuma, even though that was virtually impossible.  
  
"There is no place today on Earth named Harakatsuma. The only one that ever existed…"  
  
A sense of dread permeated her. "What happened to it?"  
  
"It was wiped out by a tsunami over a hundred years ago. There were no survivors…"  
  
"But…but…" Sashima could not believe what she was hearing. "That can't be true. Just several hours earlier, before I met you, I WAS in Harakatsuma!" She buried her face in her hands and tried to comprehend what she was actually hearing.  
  
"I know we haven't known each other for long, but may I ask you a question?"  
  
She looked up from her hands and stared straight at Bulma. She had only known her for a mere three hours, yet she felt a deep amount of trust in her. "Go ahead. Ask anything."  
  
"Well, you said you came from Harakatsuma before you saved me from the plane crash. What happened before you got to Satan City?"  
  
It was not the question that she had expected her to ask, yet she was secretly relieved that she hadn't asked it. She didn't want to tell, or at least not yet.  
  
"Well I guess I have to start from the beginning then, if you want to know how this led up," she began. "I was a police officer in Harakatsuma, and even though I was happy with my job…there seemed to be something…just something…"  
  
"Something missing in your life?" Bulma supplied.  
  
"I guess you can say that. It was just hollowness inside of me, one that ached constantly for days on end sometimes. Ever since high school, I had always wanted to be a police officer. So I enrolled in a police academy when I graduated and took college classes during the evenings. When I was twenty, I joined the force. I've been there ever since."  
  
"Not to be rude or anything, but how old are you Sashima? You don't look that old to me."  
  
"I turned twenty-two two months ago," suddenly she started to giggle. "I was the youngest person in our station, and the only woman, too. I guess I sort of made the men really uncomfortable that I managed to solve a lot of the cases that they couldn't."   
  
Bulma laughed along with her. "Just to show that we women can just be as tough as them guys!"  
  
"Right you are!" Sashima became serious once more and continued. "But even though I was happy solving crimes, I wanted something else…" Here she paused and did not speak for a moment.  
  
Bulma thought that she had spoken enough and wasn't going to let out any more information. Seriously, she scolded herself, she shouldn't have been so nosy and asked. But Sashima soon spoke once again. This time her voice was much quieter, and Bulma detected within her the sorrow she felt.  
  
"My parents died on a ship when I was six. It sank in terrible seas, and my older sister and I were the only ones who survived. I remembered crying for days on end over my parents, but my sister was always there to comfort me. We were put in an orphanage, and soon we were adopted. I hoped that life would eventually be better for the both of us, yet it didn't. Our adoptive parents already had other children, and we were routinely abused by them. When I was twelve and my sister was fifteen, we ran away and out onto the streets."   
  
She paused for breath and went on. "Our adoptive parents didn't even come to look for us. We were forced to live on the streets, and we didn't have anything else on us except the clothes on our backs and twenty dollars my sister was able to save up."  
  
"We lived like this for about two months, in alleyways, parks, anywhere else where there was shelter and food to be found. One day, we met up with a group of thugs. They attempted to kidnap me, but my sister saved me from them. She was outnumbered and she stood no chance against them, yet she fought tooth and nail for me. She told me to get out of there as fast as I could, and I had no other choice but to do what she said."  
  
Bulma's heart reached out for the woman. At such a young age, she had endured so much. "What happened next?" she inquired.  
  
"After I had ran away, I hid for an hour until I was sure they had gone away. It took me awhile to locate the spot where my sister was. But she was not there, and I looked everywhere for her. I had nowhere else to go, and without her, I didn't know what to do. Eventually, a police officer spotted me and took me to the orphanage again, where I remained until I was eighteen. Oh sure, I attended school and such." she added after seeing the look on Bulma's face.  
  
"I joined the police academy, and I got into the police force. The first thing I did was try to locate my sister. I hadn't seen her since that day, so I didn't know what she looked like now. I searched police records and various other sources until…until…"  
  
Sensing that this bore enormous emotional stress on her, Bulma did not need to hear anymore. She was nevertheless curious, yet instead said, "You don't have to continue if it's too much for you…"  
  
"No, it's okay. I can handle it." Taking another deep breath, she fought down the pain inside of her. "Five years ago, a prostitute was found on the street dead, twenty bullets shot through her head…" Unexpectedly she finally broke. Huge tears streamed down her face, and she sobbed loudly, wiping her tears on the hospital sheets. Bulma came over and sat down on the bed next to her, wrapping her arms around her for support. Still she wept.  
  
"I'm so sorry…if I had known, I wouldn't have asked…" she patted the crying woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry that I made you relive your past…"  
  
She sniffed a few more times and wiped the remainder of her tears dry with the back of her hand. "Seriously Bulma, I'm fine. I have never told anyone this before, so today, it seems as if a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders."  
  
Bulma nodded silently, understanding running through her.  
  
"After I realized what had happened to my sister, I finally realized that I was missing something in my life. I don't know what exactly, but I dealt with this for about a year. Yesterday…or today I guess…I went to my captain's office to ask for a few weeks leave. As I was in my office, this strange whirlpool thing just came out of the ceiling and covered the room with darkness. I guess I was unconscious for awhile, but when I woke up, I was in Satan City."  
  
"Hmm…this is certainly mysterious…I wonder if the whirlpool you were sucked into was a portal to this dimension…" Bulma mused. The gears in her head were already spinning, and she made another mental note to check this up later on her computers in her laboratory.  
  
Lying back on the pillows, Sashima stared blankly up at the ceiling, half expecting another whirlpool to come out of nowhere once again. "Yeah I suppose it is," she replied after a moment, running a hand through her red hair. "But the weirdest thing of all was that all of my strength was gone when I arrived here. I don't know what happened, but I sure as hell know that I didn't do anything to myself before I got here. I mean, at first, it took all I had just to get up. I guess that's why I collapsed when we were on the roof and--"  
  
She was cut short by a resounding crash that echoed throughout the hospital and the rest of Capsule Corporation. The ground shook violently, the things on the walls and ceiling swaying dangerously.  
  
At once, Bulma whipped out her cell phone. She hit the speed dial button for security and waited for a response.  
  
"Hello? Tom? This is Bulma. What the hell was that noise?! Don't tell me that another one of the trucks tipped over again…" she pressed the phone closer to her ear. "WHAT?!… He's doing WHAT?! Hang on, I'll be right there!" Clicking the phone shut and tossing it back into her shorts, she leapt from the bed and rushed to the door, but suddenly remembered.  
  
"I'm sorry I have to go now, but there has been an emergency on the main grounds of Capsule Corporation, and I'm afraid I'm the only one who can settle this at the moment. If you need anything, just call one of the doctors!"  
  
"I'll be fine here; you go on ahead."  
  
"I'll be back once the matter is finished!" With that, Bulma dashed out of the room and ran the length of the hall and down two flights of stairs. The sun was just setting over the horizon when she arrived out on the lawns of C.C., a beautiful sight that most days she would stop and just watch, yet this time she had more important matters at hand.  
  
Vegeta owed her an explanation. 


	4. The Saiyan and the Human

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 4 - The Saiyan and the Human  
  
  
  
The blasts grew nearer and nearer as Bulma hurried through the various compounds of Capsule Corporation, quickening as she got closer and closer to the boundaries and the forests that stood there. Another one of the ferocious blasts and she hastened to quicken her pace.  
  
At long last she spotted Vegeta hovering near the tops of the trees, firing various ki blasts down towards the ground. Already, some sizeable-looking craters had formed where, just minutes ago, there was a lush green lawn. Many employees and members of security had gathered in this area, yet they were slowly backing off as Vegeta's ki blasts came closer and closer to the compounds.  
  
Bulma dashed into the crater filled area and stood, hands cupped over her mouth. She yelled up into the sky.  
  
"VEGETA!!! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANCE!!!"  
  
He noticed her and stopped shooting off the ki blasts. With the usual smirk on his face, he descended down back onto the grounds.  
  
Angrily, Bulma stomped over to him and jabbed a finger at his chest.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! DID I NOT TELL YOU THAT YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO FIRE OFF KI BLASTS ANYWHERE NEAR HUMANS??! YOU COULD'VE KILLED SOMEONE, MISTER PRINCE OF THE SAIYANS!!"  
  
Vegeta just smirked. "How could a few weak ki blasts kill someone? I was merely having some fun with them."  
  
Bulma gritted her teeth. 'Do not provoke him, Bulma,' she reasoned to herself. 'He can kill you with just one punch, and you don't want to die so young anyways.'  
  
"What do you mean weak ki blasts?? This is EARTH, not Planet Vegeta, and we are HUMANS, not Saiyans, do you hear?!"  
  
"Look woman, I am the Prince of Saiyans and I can do whatever I please whether it's on Planet Vegeta or this lousy excuse of a planet--"  
  
"How DARE you insult Earth?! Your race is almost dead, with the exception of you and Goku! And it does matter that you're on Earth because you abide by OUR standards!"  
  
Vegeta's eyes narrowed dangerously. He took a few steps closer to Bulma, causing her to back slowly away. Still he kept advancing.  
  
"You--do--NOT--insult--the--Saiyan--race. I--am--the--Prince--of--all--Saiyans--and--I--would--NOT--tolerate--such--disrespect." He said all this slowly and calmly, which seemed more terrifying than if he had yelled at her.  
  
Bulma continued to back away. The nearest compound pressed up behind her. There was nowhere else she could go. Slowly, she stared at Vegeta, just a mere three feet in front of her. Fear coursed her body, yet she refused to let Vegeta see any of it.  
  
"Look Vegeta," she tried a different approach this time, "this is my place, so we go on my terms, okay? You leave my place and Earth alone, and we'll not bother with you. Does that sound fair?"  
  
"Why should I consider your offer?"  
  
"Because if I hadn't let you stay here, you wouldn't have anywhere else to go!! If I hadn't felt SORRY for you because you had no one left, I wouldn't even let you within a hundred feet of Capsule Corporation!" She could feel the nervous sweat running off her forehead, yet dared not reach a hand up to wipe it off.  
  
He did another one of his famous smirks. "I wouldn't bother with any of these puny humans here anytime. They are a waste of time to contend with, so I'll give you that, I won't bother the weaklings here. But," he added as a second note, "if ANYONE bothers with me, I can assure you that they will pay dearly for it."  
  
"That…that seems fair enough…" Bulma made a mental note to consult with her board members and all the employees who worked on the grounds as soon as possible. "But you cannot harm the people on Earth either, Vegeta. There may be only about a thousand workers here at Capsule Corp., but there are billions more people on Earth. You can't harm them, either."  
  
"And why should I promise to that one woman? If I don't have anything else better to do, I'll find some random humans to have some fun with."  
  
"Because you are on Earth!! Damn it, you don't need to be harassing us humans just because you think we are a weaker race! The gravity machine you asked for is going to be built soon, so don't bother with anyone else okay?? You can spend all your time in it for all I care, just don't you go and harm anyone!"  
  
By this time, Bulma had almost run out of energy arguing with Vegeta. He was a hopeless person, and an argument seemed futile with him. He almost always won.  
  
"The gravity machine that you were talking about the other day?" Vegeta sneered. "I'll have to see for myself just how good it is first."  
  
"Well you can't at the moment because we only have the plans done. It's going to be finished building in about a week."  
  
"Hurry up and start on it. Or else I will find something else useful to do in the meantime."  
  
That did it for Bulma. She had had enough of Vegeta's ego and his "almightiness" to last for a long time. If there was something she despised most, it was Vegeta's thinking that humans were so much inferior to the Saiyans.  
  
"You better not think of doing anything, Vegeta. Don't forget that Goku is back and--"  
  
He turned on her then. Bulma swore under her breath. 'Damn, why'd she have to go and mention Goku for??'  
  
"Do not mention Kakarott in my presence!" Without warning, he grabbed Bulma's shoulders and held her against the compound. "I will not be inferior to that third-class Saiyan! I WILL achieve the level of Super Saiyan, and when I do, I will destroy him once and for all!"  
  
"Y-yes you will achieve it…" she managed to stammer. The fear showed deeply now; she was shaking all over. "You will become a Super Saiyan and be as strong as Goku--"  
  
"NOT AS STRONG AS HIM WOMAN! I WILL BE STRONGER THAN HE'LL EVER BE!" Vegeta raged, his face inches from Bulma's. His eyes bulged like a madman's and a vein throbbed violently in his forehead. He tightened the grip on Bulma's shoulder.  
  
A string of pain shot down her shoulders and she yelled out in agony. "Vegeta please let go of me!" Desperately, she tried twisting her shoulders out of his grip, but he was too strong. He gripped her even more tightly.  
  
"Say that I will become stronger than Goku or I'll never let go!" Vegeta roared.  
  
"Okay, okay OW Vegeta you will become stronger than Goku!"  
  
"Good. Now don't let me hear you talking about your precious Goku ever again!" Letting go of Bulma, he flew off into the darkening sky.  
  
Bulma slumped down onto the ground, supporting her back by the wall of the compound. Gingerly, she tried moving her shoulders. Pain shot all the way down to her fingers and she yelled out. Vegeta had really done it this time.  
  
"Bulma!"  
  
"Ms. Briefs?"  
  
"Are you all right?"  
  
All swarm of people rushed in from all directions. It seemed the time when she and Vegeta were yelling at each other, they had all hid in fear of the Saiyan prince. Now they flocked out like a herd of cattle and surrounded Bulma. Inwardly, she felt disgust that none of them had helped her stand up to Vegeta. They had all ran in cowardice, just like Vegeta had wanted.  
  
"Coming through, excuse me, Bulma! Are you all right? Did Vegeta harm you?" Dr. Briefs, pushing his way through the people in the crowd arrived to where Bulma still sat, leaning against the wall of the building. "I just heard what Vegeta was doing and I came here as fast as I could from the lab. Your mother wanted to come too, but she had a little problem in the kitchen. Did he do anything to you Bulma? If he did I can--"  
  
"No it's okay Dad, Vegeta didn't harm me. He just--OW DAMN SHOULDER…" She had tried to get up, wincing in pain as pressure was applied to her arms.  
  
Dr. Briefs was immediately alarmed. "What's wrong with your arms Bulma?? Did Vegeta do something to them? Someone go get the doctors!" A few people ran off from the crowd.  
  
"Dad, I'm okay. Vegeta was being lenient on me. If it was someone else, I'll daresay he would've blasted them to hell." She chuckled, trying to lessen the tension in the situation.  
  
"But he can't do this to you! Bulma, I seriously think you should reconsider having Vegeta stay here. He's a madman! There's no telling what he can do to you or anyone else here!" Dr. Briefs cried out. "If he--" He stopped.  
  
It seemed to Dr. Briefs that it was not especially wise to continue, as the majority of the employees of C.C. were grouped around them. He cleared his throat, giving warning that he had something of importance to say.  
  
"The situation is all under control here. The work day is all over, and you may all go home."  
  
A murmur ran through the people, and concern for Bulma was voiced.  
  
"I assure you, I'm going to be alright," said Bulma. "You all go home to your families and I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Reluctantly, the crowd slowly dispersed, giving their well wishes to Bulma. When they were finally alone, Dr. Briefs turned back to face Bulma.  
  
"Bulma, wouldn't it be best if we just made Vegeta leave? It would be best for you and--"  
  
"No, Dad, we can't do that," Bulma interjected. She could already picture the vivid situation in her mind if they did kick Vegeta out, not that they could. "If we tell Vegeta to leave, he'll just go somewhere else and who knows what destruction he might cause? No, we can't take the risk." She looked up towards the sky, which by now had turned a dark blue in color. The first night's star was already winking down on her, and the sound of the security lights on the grounds of C.C. flickering on could be heard as well.  
  
"Well…you do have a point there," Dr. Briefs agreed, rubbing his lavender-colored mustache in deep thought. "I guess we should all give Vegeta more space and hope he doesn't do anything more."  
  
"Yeah Dad, I'm with you on this one." A smile spread across Bulma's face. "How about dinner? I bet Mom's waiting for us wondering where we are."  
  
"Sure. Up until now I had no idea how hungry I was."  
  
"Ms. Briefs? Are you alright?"  
  
The shadowy form of a person was hurrying through the buildings, making their way towards Dr. Briefs and Bulma. Tall and lean, it walked with long strides and held a sort of box in its hand. As it came into the light, its face was finally distinguishable.  
  
"Dr. Willis!" Bulma exclaimed.  
  
"Bulma, I heard what happened from some of the other employees. Let me take a look at your arm."  
  
"Dr. Willis, I'm fine. My arm just hurts a little, but I'm sure the pain will go away tomorrow." Yeah right, she thought sarcastically. A few weeks were more like it.  
  
Dr. Willis examined both shoulders and arms. He frowned as she winced in pain, yet made no comments until he was through. Slowly, he closed the lid of the box.  
  
"Well Ms. Briefs, your shoulders aren't broken nor dislocated, and I can't find anything else wrong with them. Just be careful from now on and don't try to do anything too strenuous."   
  
"Thanks, doctor," Bulma said, as she tried once more to get up. The pain was too much to bear. "Um…I'll like to get off the ground…"  
  
"Here, we'll help." Dr. Briefs bent down and took Bulma below the shoulder. Dr. Willis did the same on the other side. Slowly, they eased Bulma to her feet.  
  
"There's nothing wrong with your feet, is there Bulma?" her father inquired.  
  
"No, my feet are fine. Only my arms feel a little awkward." Bulma grinned sheepishly.  
  
"I guess I should be heading home now," Dr. Willis spoke up. Bulma had forgotten temporarily that he was still there. "My shift at the hospital is over. Hope you feel better Ms. Briefs." With that, he strode off in the direction of the hospital.  
  
"Guess we should be heading off to dinner, shouldn't we Dad?" Bulma remembered that she hadn't eaten a single thing since lunchtime, and already her stomach was twisting and aching just as much as her arms did.  
  
"Your mother is waiting I bet." The two laughed.  
  
Suddenly she stopped. "What is it?" Dr. Briefs asked, searching Bulma's face for some answers.  
  
She raised her finger slowly to her mouth, signaling him to remain quiet for a second. The silence in the darkness revealed nothing, and she strained her ears to pick up once again what she had just heard. There it was again! A faint cracking noise was picked up, and slowly Bulma turned her head in the direction of where the sound was being emitted. From that direction, a distant sight caught her eye. It was difficult to confirm exactly what it was against the dark night sky, yet from the terror of that afternoon, the sight was unmistakable.  
  
"Dad," she shouted, panic in her voice quickly rising, "there's smoke coming from the hospital!" 


	5. Outstretched Fingers

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 5 - Outstretched Fingers  
  
  
  
Her eyes lingered for a moment as the wooden door closed swiftly behind the woman who had rescued her life after she had done the same for her. Even though the time she had known Bulma was indeed short, there was no doubt that she was a woman of honor, of honesty. One of trustworthiness, of compassion. There was no doubt in Sashima's mind that she could count on Bulma with her own life.  
  
An earsplitting commotion resounded from somewhere in the distance. Jostled out of the state of well-being she had experienced, she silently cursed whoever was preventing her from achieving the peace she so much desired. Another one of the crashes and the ground shook with a fury of a thousand dragons. The room she was in tethered dangerously to one side, with the intentions of suddenly caving in a definite possibility.  
  
"What the fuck is going on out there?" she demanded to no one in particular. "Damn…this is getting so…ARGH! THAT'S IT!"  
  
The ceiling above her seemed to laugh out loud as she struggled to get out of the hospital bed. Even though she was immensely well off than when she had first arrived at the hospital, there was still the doubt. She knew for a fact that she was not yet strong enough to do much in her state, yet there was no point in trying to debate reasons for that matter.  
  
Planting her feet firmly on the ground, hands tight on the side of the bed, she straightened her legs and stood. She waited for the fall. It never came.  
  
"Wow…this is strange…" she spoke to herself in a bemused manner. She never expected herself to stand, much less drag herself out of bed. With renewed confidence, she took a few steps forward. Owing to the exception that she still ached all over and was reasonably drained of much energy, she was still able to walk like she normally could. But then again, she wasn't normal.  
  
BOOM!  
  
This last explosion seemed to be relatively nearer than all the rest. For certain, the consequences were much greater. Like an aftershock of a disastrous earthquake, the blast made everything in the room jump a few inches in every which direction. The ceiling lights once again swayed, hanging on by just thin threads of wire. Sashima stumbled and quickly grabbed onto the table for support.  
  
As soon as it began, it stopped. In a matter of seconds, it was as if nothing had ever happened. But she knew it was not the end, at least not yet.  
  
Bit by bit she made her way to the large window overlooking the grounds at the end of the room. On the way she spotted the jug of iced-water, and not realizing her thirst until then, she gulped the contents down in a matter of seconds.  
  
Snow white as the sheets on her bed, the curtains were quickly parted. It was getting dark fast, and her eyes roamed the grounds and the many compounds of Capsule Corporation, hoping to catch whatever was causing all the trouble outside.  
  
BOOM! Yet another explosion, but this time she was ready. Turning her head in the direction of the sound and where the shockwaves were being emanated from, she caught a flash of bright yellow hastily descending from somewhere in the sky. Round as a beach ball, yet it seemed to have the intensity of a molten fireball, it was being sent from something hovering in mid-air. What it was she didn't know, yet the thing seemed remarkably familiar in a way…like she had seen it someplace recent. But where?   
  
"Aha! That's the same person who flew over that silver plane this afternoon!"  
  
The realization finally made, she at long last made the horrid conclusion. If that person would so willingly bring down a plane, what would he do against mere buildings? He would not hesitate to level them into miserable piles of rubble, and he was certainly not that far off from the hospital. Even in the condition she was in, she might still be able to do something. She made for the door.  
  
At that exact moment that she let go of the bed, a blast exploded closer than ever to the hospital. The ground rocking like a giant cradle, she was thrown off her feet and slammed against the door. Pain shot up her knee where the impact had connected.  
  
"Fucking SHIT…" Yet again she cursed herself for her incompetence, even though there was no way to reverse the condition that she was presently in. She pulled herself up from the heap on the floor, until her eyes were level with the glass in the door. What she saw almost made her heart stop in mid-beat.  
  
At the end of the dimly lit corridor, a figure was bent double over a pile of what she presumed to be newspapers. Even though they were too far away to distinguish whether they were male or female, she watched, as if time had frozen her to the spot. The figure took out what seemed to be a bottle with a liquid of some sort from the inside of their jacket pocket and twisted the cap. Moving their arms in a wide arc, the contents of the liquid sloshed over the papers spread on the floor and instantly ignited into flames of phoenix wings. Moving back from the bonfire that leaped higher and higher into the air, the figure faded back into the shadows and out of sight.  
  
"STOP!" Sashima cried out, flinging the door wide open, but it was already too late. The figure was nowhere in sight.  
  
All the fire alarms began to ring, with doctors scurrying out of rooms and offices from every which direction, shouting panicked instructions to nurses and assistants to quickly evacuate all patients. The sprinkler system automatically activated, yet it was no use against the flames, which by now had engulfed half a side hallway and gaining area fast. Smoke billowed down the halls towards the madness of the people, propelled by the air conditioning let out from the ceiling vents. It was downtown Satan City all over again.  
  
"Everyone out of the building, now!" Doctors furiously scrambled from room to room, moving patients down the second floor ramp and out onto the Capsule Corporation grounds. Sashima joined in with all the other able-bodied persons and worked desperately with the garden hoses hooked up to the sinks; water blasted out at a steady rate, trying to contain the fire long enough so that all patients would be safety transported out. So far, the plan was failing miserably. The raging fire was not doused at all. Quickly, it sucked at the ceilings and walls, and in no time at all, would soon enter one of the main hallways.  
  
"This is not working! Everyone clear out of the building!"  
  
There was no chance at battling the fire, which danced dangerously closer and closer to the people dashing for the exits. The intense heat was almost too much to bear, reminding Sashima of a turkey in a Thanksgiving oven. The smoke was no better; it clouded and rose not too far from her head, and gave an acidic sensation when inhaled through the nose or mouth. Pieces of the ceiling had now started to crumble and gravely wanted to cave in at various spots.  
  
Half hobbling, half running, the fire seemed more hot-tempered than ever. Whichever way she turned, it followed, like a cat pursuing its prey. The perspiration covered her entire body and severely slowed her down, and still the fire rushed at her, closer and closer along the walls and ceilings. She and the last few people who were fighting the fire were extremely relieved when the exit was finally in sight.  
  
A creaking sound from above made her swing her head in that direction. To her utmost horror, the fire was almost directly above her, extending its evil claws, grabbing in vain at the auburn-haired man who exerted much energy just to run and looked about ready to fall dead on the ground at any second. The loose boards in the ceiling groaned with the weight of the flames and finally broke loose.  
  
"Watch out!" She rushed at the man, knocking him over as a block of burning plaster fell on the spot that he had just been a mere second ago, searing the ground a charcoal black and blocking their way to the exit.   
  
"Are you okay?" Getting back to her feet, she helped the man up. He was wheezing uncontrollably and could not speak. "Come on, we need to get outta here…"  
  
Supporting his immense weight, she half carried, half dragged him down the narrow side corridor that they had landed in. The darkness made it all the worse, and the hall seemed never to end. 'If the fire is not put out soon,' Sashima thought with impending dread, 'this whole building would collapse.'  
  
It did seem as if her predication was going to come true, because at that exact moment, a burst of light had found its way to the beginning of the corridor. It was not light, but the flames, and they were hunting her once again, the smoke as their ally.  
  
"Come on, you can make it…" she muttered down to the man, who by now was so weak his feet were trailing the warm floor tiles. Inwardly, she hoped that he had not died on her, and that smoke inhalation had not done him in.  
  
Breaking the end of the hall, she emerged into a lighted area, the wooden reception desk in front of her and the last second floor exit to her right, just forty feet past the hospital kitchen. A leap of joy fluttered in her heart. Yes! She was going to make it!  
  
With renewed confidence, she shifted the weight of the limp man onto her other shoulder and scuttled to the glass doors. Ramming her elbow against them, she shoved them opened and broke out into fresh air. It was not an exit, but a balcony. Down below, firefighters were on the scene, and cries of surprise were released from them as they hastily scampered up in their ladders to where she stood, panting.  
  
"Here, we'll take him down with us!" Firemen on the ladder extended their arms, and carefully Sashima passed the limp man down to them. "Be careful!" She took a step and proceeded to step over the railing and to the safety of the ladder, but from above, another creaking noise resulted.  
  
This time, she didn't hesitate to look, flinging herself back into the building and out of the balcony. Where she had stood, part of the third floor had buckled and lay comfortably on the balcony. Her only hope of an escape was sealed, and the flames, sensing her feelings of despair, crept slowly from the other end of the hallway.  
  
For the second time that day, she struggled to concentrate, focusing mind and energy into one spot. It was no use, she had still not yet recovered from what had happened earlier that day, and the fire and smoke in the hospital had just made it worse. She had to find a window and if she jumped, she just hoped that fate would be kind to spare her life.  
  
Suddenly a roar snapped her back to the situation she was desperately trapped in. To her right and left, flames loomed closer and closer to her, leaning in for the kill. The only place left was the kitchen.  
  
With no time to spare, Sashima hurried inside and slid the door shut. She scanned the room until she found what she so much wanted: windows. Pushing aside the various crates of food, trays, and sanitation equipment, she made her way to the back of the room just as the fire licked at the edges of the door.   
  
The windows were too far from the ground to reach, and Sashima only had a minimal amount of time left before she was trapped and burned for good in the kitchen.  
  
"Come on, fucking shit, why won't this budge??" Tugging at the edges of a box, she labored to get it over to the window. Exasperated, she scooted behind the box and pushed against it with all her might. It slowed moved forward a couple inches.  
  
Slowly but surely, the box was shoved until it finally came to rest directly under the window. By this time, smoke was seeping into the room from all sides, as if someone had turned on a hundred fans and aimed it at the cracks of the room.   
  
Sashima was beyond fatigued. She didn't know how she managed, but she finally found herself atop the box and struggling with the latch on the window. The smoke clouded her brain, and if she didn't get fresh air soon, she was sure to die.  
  
A vociferous crash and the charred remnants of the door shattered. Through the gap in the room, the whole outside of the second floor was engulfed in a rolling ball of flame. Fumbling with the latch, it still would not unbolt.  
  
Sashima shut her eyes tight, awaiting her certain doom. There was simply no way she could escape this one; she was too weak to do anything that she might've done if she was back in Harakatsuma. She was just going to die right then and there, in this strange city, and without ever finding what she had set out to find.   
  
Row after row of fire blazed into the dusky room. She could already see a flamed finger extending only inches away from the line of gas stoves on the far side of the room.  
  
She scoffed to herself. "And before I actually thought that nothing could kill me…"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Bulma and her father had arrived at the burning C.C. hospital as soon as Bulma had spotted the smoke. They had assisted the patients, the doctors, and everyone else being ushered out of the building, treating them for minor burns and smoke inhalation. Within minutes, the entire second floor, and most of the first and third floors were already raging with flames, burning uncontrollably, a display of optical wonders against the evening sky. Yet it was far from a wonder. The firefighters soon pulled up in their fire trucks, and even they could not keep the fire under control. It seemed to have a mind of its own, avoiding the cool sprays of the water as it was blasted towards them.  
  
Bulma hurried among the patients and the various people crowded a distance away from the fiery scene. All of a sudden she remembered Sashima. Where was she? Did she make it out with the rest? Hurrying through, she searched the masses of people. She was nowhere to be found.  
  
"Has anyone seen Sashima?" she called out to the group of doctors. Some had recalled her helping battle the fire, yet no one had seen her since.  
  
It was as if the pit of Bulma's stomach had ripped open, spilling the juices and the acids. A commotion from the building that was ablaze sent a leap to her heart as she saw Sashima handing the body of a man to the firefighters on the ladder. Bulma started to run towards the firefighters, but at that moment the hanging over the balcony that Sashima was standing on gave way and fell. The ladder flew backwards with a metallic crash and the four bodies were flung down onto the grassy C.C. grounds. None of them moved.  
  
As the injured firemen were carried away in stretchers, Bulma returned to the safety zone, away from the fire. She paced back and forth in agitated circles, chewing her lip thoughtfully. Sashima possessed great powers, she was sure of that, but when she had left her that evening, she was still not in the best of conditions. A little better off than when Bulma had first brought her in, but nevertheless, in no shape to get out of a raging fire alive.  
  
"Oh God, please let her be all right." Bulma murmured these words over and over again. Looking towards the hospital, her breath caught in her throat as she realized the entire building was veiled in an inferno, the dark screen of smoke even worst than what she had saw that afternoon.  
  
"Sashima, where are you??" she called helplessly into the turmoil.  
  
With the force of a missile strike and the loudness of a miniature atomic blast, the fallen hospital erupted outwards, blasting itself in an explosion from the inside out, scattering embers and pieces of debris in every which direction.  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
AN: Sorry this took so long to write. I sorta was short on time with homework and all…so yeah…I still don't know how many chapters it's gonna be…only that it's gonna be really long and I'll average about one to two chapters per week, depending on how much time I have. Hey at least when Winter Break starts, I'll be able to do like a chapter per two days. Or in one day for that matter. Heh. Cyaz. 


	6. Missing and Found

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 6 - Missing and Found  
  
  
  
The intense force and power of the explosion caused the people on the grounds of C.C., well or injured, to be hurled like rag dolls a few feet back from where they were standing, sitting, or resting. Pieces of wood, steel, concrete, and plaster flew in every which direction, a dangerous shower of materials along with the raining of the fire. In the center of the mass of destruction, where the magnificent hospital once stood, was a rampaging wildfire on the loose, scorching the people too weak to escape, pursing the ones still able to limp and run. Corpses lay buried in the rubble, crushed by the weight of the befallen hospital, seared by the hatred of the fire.   
  
Bulma stumbled back onto her feet, scratched and bruised where she had been thrown by the might of the blast. Several feet away, Dr. Briefs sat slowly up, rubbing the back of his head. All around them, the humans who had stayed behind the safety zone were the best off, condition-wise; they had not suffered much except from the identical bruises, scrapes, cuts, and the occasional burns that each one of them wore.  
  
"Dad! Are you hurt?" Limping over to her father, Bulma ignored the sufficient pain still in her arms and assisted Dr. Briefs to his feet.  
  
"I'm okay Bulma, but we've got to stop this fire before it burns the whole of Capsule Corporation down!" exclaimed Dr. Briefs, severely agitated and slightly crazed.  
  
"But Dad, all the firefighters in town are here, and they can't do a thing about it! Let's get out of here before it's too late!" Bulma urged her father, hurriedly pulling on his arm, preventing him from getting any closer to the raging inferno.  
  
"No! I've put all my life into Capsule Corporation! I would not let it burn down!" Jerking out of Bulma's grasp, he rushed towards the blazing flames.  
  
"DAD, NO!"  
  
Capsule Corporation doctors surged in from all sides, blocking the way for Dr. Briefs. They would not let him pass.  
  
"Move out of my way!" he demanded at the line of doctors.  
  
"Dr. Briefs, there is simply nothing that you can do!"  
  
"The fire is beyond your control!"  
  
"We need to get out of here now!"  
  
"Just stand aside! I'll deal with it myself!" Still Dr. Briefs advanced, half crazed, eyes budging out like tea saucers. Waving his arms madly, he charged forward into the thick line of people.  
  
WHACK!  
  
Dr. Brief's body suddenly sagged and fell limply onto the ground, unconscious; the surrounding medical practitioners and C.C. workers were astounded to see Bulma Briefs behind the body of her father.  
  
"I'm real sorry father, but I did it for your own good." Snapping at the doctors huddled nearby, she barked, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get him out of here, now! And get yourselves out of here before the fire kills any more people!"  
  
The remainder of the survivors promptly complied with her orders. Supporting one other, all injured were loaded into the ambulances that finally arrived at the scene. Bloody, bruised, and broken, these people wailed in agony as they were moved from the ground onto the waiting stretchers. Firefighters from nearby cities arrived on the scene, pumping hundreds of gallons of water per minute onto the still strongly blazing fire, which showed no sign of letting up. In spite of everything, it was not enough, and slowly, the firefighters were forced to retreat farther and farther back until they were nearing the small warehouses and compounds.   
  
"Why aren't you making any progress??" Bulma shrieked at the remaining firefighters, laden with ashes and hurrying about. By now, she was the only remaining person of C.C. who dared stay at the scene. The only other people were the firefighters and the local news reporters.  
  
"We are trying as best as we can Ms. Briefs, but we do not have enough water pressure--it might take an hour more until it is all contained!" The young firefighter cowered in fright at the wrath of Bulma Briefs.  
  
"Well, DO SOMETHING about it! The world's economy is at stake here!" She turned on her heel and stalked off, with the reporters following her every step.   
  
"Ms. Briefs, what do you think will happen--"  
  
"Is the world's economy in great danger if--"  
  
"What will happen when this is--"  
  
"Look, I'm sorry, but can I answer your questions later?" Huffing her annoyance, she marched off in the direction of the nearest compound and sat with her back against it, staring up at the sky, as if waiting for a miracle.  
  
"Oh Kami, what did I do to deserve this? Why is this happening?" Silent tears found their way down her face, one streaming after the other. She buried her face into her knees.  
  
"Bulma…"  
  
She immediately recognized the voice. It was as if all of her life's dreams were answered as she slowly raised her head, hardly daring to believe it. Staring into the eyes of Son Goku, the pain and despair suddenly flew off, as if they had never existed to begin with.   
  
"Goku!" Relief spread all over her face as she jumped up and gave him a hug. When she finally let go of him, she exclaimed, "I'm so glad you came!"  
  
His face took on one of his serious looks and he glanced towards the still uncontrolled fire, advancing ever so closely. "I'm sorry I couldn't get here earlier, Bulma. I didn't know what happened until Gohan turned on the t.v. and the news told that Capsule Corp. was on fire. I came as soon as I heard that."  
  
"Never mind that Goku!" Bulma was ecstatic with joy, as Goku was about the only person now who would be able to douse the rampant flames. "Just please help get this fire out! You did it before to Mount Frypan, you can do the same now!"  
  
He nodded. "That's why I'm here." In a wink, he teleported far above the extents of the burning flames.  
  
From behind the compound, Bulma darted out and yelled at the firefighters still struggling with the blaze. A crowd of reporters enclosed her way, yet pushing roughly through them, she managed to get close enough to the intense heat.  
  
"It's no use! Everyone back away!!" Perhaps the firefighters themselves knew it was pointless fighting on the losing side of a war, or maybe it was an excuse for them to get out of there, yet either way, the area around the burning remnants of the hospital was swept clear.  
  
"Okay Goku, go ahead!" Bulma called towards the sky.  
  
From above, Goku gathered up his energy, formed a glowing sphere of golden in the center of his palms. Bringing forth both wrists and placing them at his side, the ball of energy grew bigger and bigger under it crackled with electricity.  
  
"Ka…me…ha…me…HA!" shouted Goku, releasing his signature attack that his old teacher, Master Roshi, had taught him. Hurling down with great speed and picking up force on the way, the Kamehameha blast connected full force with the dangerous inferno.  
  
There was another tremendous explosion that rocked the grounds and sent tremors through the people hidden behind the compounds. When the blast had finally subsided, pairs of eyes cautiously peered behind the buildings.  
  
Charred and blackened, the rubble of the once grand hospital lay smoldered on the equally charred grass. The inferno was finally put out.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Bulma…I'm so sorry…I don't know what to say…" Chi-Chi patted her friend's back reassuringly, hoping that she would be able to comfort her, even a little.  
  
"It's not your fault, Chi-Chi. It was that damn bastard Vegeta's!" The outburst made by Bulma shocked Chi-Chi at the anger she had vented.  
  
"Vegeta?? He caused all this?'  
  
"Yes, he must have!"  
  
"But why would he have any use for destroying your hospital Bulma?"  
  
"I don't know. For the hell of it I suppose. He's not afraid to do anything, just like he wrecked that plane this afternoon."  
  
"What plane?"  
  
"Did you not see it on the news as well?"  
  
"Well no--wait a second. You mean that plane that fell into the ocean this afternoon? And the pilot who barely survived? And the helicopter that had crashed with it and the person that was in the helicopter that is still missing? Yes, I think I saw it…"  
  
"The person in the helicopter was me, Chi-Chi. I saw Vegeta heading away from the plane after it had caught fire."  
  
"Bulma, that was you?! But the news said no one came out of the helicopter and the police haven't found a corpse in the wreckage!"  
  
"Well, there is no corpse and I certainly would've died if it hadn't been for Sashima--"  
  
All of a sudden, Bulma remembered Sashima. The last time she had saw the red-haired woman was on the balcony of the burning hospital, and she was not witnessed since. A sinking feeling gripped her entire body as she came to the dreaded conclusion: no one could have survived the explosion.  
  
"Chi-chi, I've got to get back to C.C.!" Bulma scrambled out of her bed at Satan City General Hospital and darted out the door, with Chi-Chi at her heels.  
  
"But why? Goku and Gohan and the police are already there trying to find survivors and evidence; you need your rest!" she protested.  
  
Bulma made a swift glance over her shoulder. "Long story Chi-chi! I'll explain when we're in the aircar!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So that's what happened after your helicopter crashed…" Chi-Chi said thoughtfully, deep in her own thoughts. "Do you think Sashima is still alive?" She needn't have asked, as she herself already knew the answer.  
  
Bulma clenched the steering wheel tighter against her bandaged hands and arms. "No, it's not likely…" Keeping her eyes steady, she increased her speed as they continued on to Capsule Corporation.  
  
"Then why are we going to C.C. now? You need your rest--that's what the doctors said, and you can always return tomorrow morning!"  
  
Bulma was silent. When she finally spoke, she heaved a deep sigh before finally answering. "If…if there's the chance that Sashima is still alive…I want to be the one to find her…" Giving Chi-Chi a glare, she went on, "and it's not that I'm going to die from my injuries, you know. I just have a few bruises and cuts and scrapes…"  
  
It was now Chi-Chi's turn to sigh. There was simply no way to stop Bulma when her mind was fully set on something.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The sight of the hissing wreckage was slightly eerie against the dark night's sky. Bits and pieces of material were scattered in a one-acre radius from the center of the destruction, which was illuminated by spotlights that the police had set up for the search of survivors and the retrieval of corpses.  
  
Before getting her foot out of the car, Bulma consulted her watch: it was 9:15 P.M. Vividly, she remembered what had happened after the fire had been put out.  
  
The police who had arrived so late after the disaster had first struck had immediately questioned Bulma. With the reporters next, she was bombarded with question after question until her head spun from them; Chi-Chi had arrived next in her aircar and had managed to shoo off the reporters and had dragged her to Satan City General Hospital, where Dr. Briefs and the many other injured C.C. workers and firefighters had arrived earlier for treatment. She was put in a room with her father, who by now had regained consciousness and had been overly anxious to hear what had happened. Upon examination, doctors concluded that no major injuries had resulted and Bulma miraculously was only treated for minor burns, cuts, and bruises. Soon after, her mother had arrived flustered and extremely frightened, and had not been able to calm down until Bulma was at last able to speak a few words of comfort.  
  
The events of the day were ones that Bulma would never fail to remember. Quickening their pace towards the nearest police officer, she and Chi-Chi made their way closer and closer to the wreck. On top of all of it, they caught glimpses of Goku and Gohan, heaving metal and bits of concrete out from under them, attempting to find any more people who could have tricked fate and survived the blaze.  
  
"Excuse me sir…can you give me the numbers of what you have found here?" Bulma asked, almost terrified at the reply she would obtain.  
  
The officer's face was grave and solemn as he spoke. "Ms. Briefs, I would have to tell you that the results are not good. We estimate the cost of the damage to be around one billion dollars, and so far, no survivors have been found. Forty-seven bodies have been recovered, but there are still about sixteen people missing."  
  
"Have you recovered a red-haired, red-eyed woman about twenty-two years in age?" Bulma hesitantly asked.  
  
He flipped through the pages of his clipboard. "No, we have not. Although some of the bodies we have uncovered have burned so bad that you cannot tell whether they are even male or female."  
  
She shuddered at the image of the carcasses that had crept into her mind. Shaking her head, she thanked the officer and slowly moved away, with Chi-Chi at her side.  
  
"I just…just can't believe that Sashima could've…could've…" Bulma trailed off, not wanting to finish the rest of her sentence.  
  
"I know…but in life, it's always the--" A shout from Gohan abruptly cut Chi-Chi off in mid-sentence.  
  
"Hey Dad! I've found someone!"  
  
In a flash, Bulma had rushed over to the scene, scrambling onto the masses of rubble. Goku flew over to where his son busied himself lifting apart the burnt metal and wood, as Bulma caught a flash of red from underneath. Something inside of her stirred.  
  
"Son, let me handle this one." As Goku carried the last bit of wreckage away, they could all see just what had been underneath it all.  
  
Sashima lay, her arms and legs twisted in awkward directions, a thin layer of blood covering almost every inch of her body and scabbing over her multiple gashes. Her eyes were closed, body unmoving.  
  
"Oh Kami…" Chi-Chi quickly drew Gohan to her, shielding his eyes from the horrid sight.  
  
Bulma could not stand to look at the body, either. It was too horrible of a sight. Sashima was dead, and all because of her. If she hadn't been foolish and gone after Vegeta, Sashima would've never had to save her. She would never have ended up in the hospital, and she would not have burned with it as well. She had lost the friend that she had only known for less than a day. With one last gaze towards the body, Bulma turned and started back down from atop the rubble, back to the ground.  
  
"Wait!" Goku called out suddenly, causing Bulma to turn back, facing Goku, Gohan, and Chi-Chi, who were still clustered around Sashima. Goku carefully picked up a bloody hand and turned it over, feeling for a pulse. At the same time, he leaned his ear down to her chest, trying to detect a heartbeat. With widened eyes, he slowly lifted his head back up, a look of utter seriousness and extreme concern on his face.  
  
"We need to get her a couple of senzu beans--and quickly. She is still alive."  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Wow, it seems that each new chapter is longer than its previous one…scary. Anyways, senzu beans? Don't those restore all of your energy? I wonder…what will happen when Sashima is fully restored? You'll just have to wait for the next update, which could take as short as two days or as long as a week. Okay, then that's about it for now. Bye. 


	7. Hanging on by a Thread

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 7 - Hanging on by a Thread  
  
  
  
"WHAT?" She dared not trust the words that came out of Goku's mouth as Bulma re-processed what she most surely must have mistakenly heard. "But Goku, is that even possi--"  
  
Goku cut her off. "There is still time for her! Gohan," he averted his gaze to his eight-year-old son, "please stay with your mother and Bulma while I go get the senzu beans from Karin. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that, he shot into the air and streaked away in the direction of Korin Tower, where the white cat Karin grew the invaluable senzu beans that the Earth's defenders had used on countless occasions.  
  
As the minute speck that was Goku vanished into the darkened horizon, Bulma hesitantly moved until she knelt by Sashima's body once more. "Sashima…" she whispered into the warm night's air, amongst the rubble littered underneath her, "I…I…can't believe that…"  
  
"Oh come on Bulma…" Placing a hand on her companion's shoulder, Chi-Chi too looked at Sashima's figure, drenched in blood and a look of agony engulfing her face, "she's still alive…isn't that what you hoped for?"  
  
"Yes, of course…I'm just shocked that she was…able…to pull through it…after all that…"  
  
Silence descended on both of them.  
  
At long last, Chi-Chi was the first to speak. "How…how do you think she was able to live through it?"  
  
"To be honest Chi-Chi, I don't know. " Far off into the distance, an owl hooted its reply, as if urging Bulma to confide in Chi-Chi what Dr. Willis had mentioned to her earlier in the day. "Chi-Chi…do you think it's possible that there were other Saiyans who survived the destruction of their planet?"  
  
Chi-Chi was quiet taken aback by this sudden question. Thinking deeply for a moment, she came up with her reply. "No, Bulma…I don't think so…didn't Vegeta say that the only Saiyans left are himself and Goku? I mean, Radditz is dead…Nappa was killed…so it's not likely…wait…" comprehension dawned onto her as she finally realized what Bulma was driving at, "you don't mean to say that Sashima--" a shaky finger extended towards the limp body, still unmoving, "--is a Saiyan??"  
  
"Well, what other explanation can you think of?" Bulma sagged her head gloomily.  
  
"Maybe she's just a strong human…like Krillin, or Yamcha, or Tien…" suggested Chi-Chi, seriously wishing her words were more honest than she meant them. Unintentionally she snuck a glance towards Gohan and shuddered. She remembered almost too clearly what had happened when Radditz, Nappa, and Vegeta had come to Earth, wrecking havoc and tearing her family apart until they were finally, at long last, reunited. If this woman were another Saiyan, she would NEVER want to live through all of that again.  
  
"No…WAIT…why am I doubting her? Why am I second-guessing my first impression of her?? Damnit Bulma, she saved your life for Kami's sake! Why do you think she's a Saiyan??? Saiyans don't risk their lives to save you!" Her head pounding from the overflow of thoughts and emotions that ran through her, Bulma pushed aside her turquoise hair and stared intently into the glittering night's sky, where the numerous stars smiled down and seemed to reassure that her first judgment had been, indeed, correct.   
  
"I hope your judgment is right on this one Bulma…" Up above, the stars began to smile down on Chi-Chi as well.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The wind whipped his hair back as he flew at top speed towards Korin Tower, under Kami's lookout. When Goku had first witnessed the body, he too, was skeptical that it still contained life. But as he had gotten closer and closer, he detected a feeble ki still within it. Delicately picking up her wrist, a wave of astonishment had swept over him as, in that wrist, a faint vibration was detected. The pulse was still there. Goku had leaned his ear down against her chest, and there it was--the weak THUMP-THUMP of her heart, barely audible and hardly sufficient enough to maintain her life for long.  
  
In his mind Goku turned over what had been bothering him ever since he had left the remains of the Capsule Corporation Hospital. "How could she have survived?" Muttering out loud, he thought about himself and his friends on Earth. "It would take someone with an exceptionally strong ki to be able to survive a blast like the one that happened at the hospital…no normal human would ever have lived through it…so the only possibility is that she's not human…is that even possible? Bulma seems to know her…the way she reacted when Gohan found her body…"  
  
All these thoughts jostled against one another as if they were humans in line waiting for food, racked with hunger and taking on an emaciated look. He would resume his wonderings as soon as he had received the senzu bean from Karin--he just hoped that the white cat had grew another batch since the last time they had borrowed his senzu beans.  
  
In the far distance, the unmistakable structure came into view. As if it were hovering in thin air, Korin Tower was held delicately by only a slender, pole-like composition. Quickening his flight speed, Goku prayed to Kami that he would be able to return on time…and that it would not be too late for the woman who could, at any moment, finally lose the thin thread that she was holding onto life by.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hmph." Grumbling his displeasure, Vegeta stood atop the grassy hill, overlooking the countryside down below. In the small, quaint cottages down below, lights flickered on as, one by one, the darkness overcame the rooms inside. He had been in this area for about two hours, ever since he had blown his top over that fool of a woman.  
  
He didn't know why he bothered no more the humans who were so close at reach. When he had first arrived on Earth, he had not hesitated to obliterate anything or anyone that he had found displeasing, yet once he had arrived at that woman's place, he had not killed a single human. He had the pleasure of frightening them out of their wits, yet he had done them no harm, for now.  
  
Vegeta lay back and stared into the endless night's sky. The stars were unusually bright, and he remembered the times he had spent on Planet Vegeta as a child before he had been forced to work for that idiot of a being, Freeza. Slowly, the scent of the summer grass made his mind wander until they somehow got back to why he was in this desolate place in the first place--that fool of a woman--who her fellow humans called Bulma.  
  
A smirk slowly crept onto his face, and he abruptly shook his head vehemently, dismissing all thoughts of her. The hell he was thinking about her--a low class human woman, while he was the mighty Prince of all Saiyans. Yet something in his chest stirred whenever she crept into his thoughts; was it his heart? No, he had no heart.   
  
"Why do I care?" he muttered into the heavens above. "What use do I have for an idiotic fool of a woman, who cannot fight and has no powers of her own?" Suddenly, his cold laugh rang through the contrasting warmth of the air. "I'm going SOFT over a WOMAN? Vegeta, you should really get a reality check…"  
  
Reassured that he had no feelings towards anyone on the worthless excuse for a planet, Vegeta made up his mind to head back. It would take him a fair amount of time returning to Capsule Corporation, and by the time he got back, everyone would have been asleep.  
  
Taking one last look on the cottages and lush green fields below, Vegeta could not help regretting that maybe he HAD been a little too harsh on the woman that day…  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey! What did you people find up there?"  
  
The two women jumped as a police officer shone his flashlight up at Chi-Chi, Gohan, and Bulma, atop the vast quantities of debris. Bulma and Chi-Chi were still huddled over the body of Sashima; Gohan, several feet away, was continually sifting through the remains.  
  
"We found someone that is still alive!" Chi-Chi called down to the officer below. Bulma shot her a sideways glance, and Chi-Chi clapped her hands to her mouth, as if wanting to stop herself from saying anymore than she had already let out.  
  
"Is that so?" The officer raised a bushy eyebrow quizzically and called forth a few of his comrades. "Yo Bob! Dave! Ms. Briefs' friend says that they've found a survivor!"   
  
Out from the other side of the wreckage, two other officers came into view, accompanying the first. The three of them made their way carefully among the hazardous pieces of rubble and joined Bulma and Chi-Chi at the place where Sashima lay.  
  
"Holy crap!" The first officer cried out. "Ladies, I think it's in your best interest if you leave this body to us now. She is obviously dead." The other two officers nodded their agreement.  
  
"No, she is NOT dead," Bulma argued angrily, "My friend Goku has gone to get something to revive her--don't you DARE think about moving her while she's in this condition!"  
  
"But there is nothing you can do for her, Ms. Briefs! She is dead, and there is no way to bring back the dead!"  
  
"How do you know for sure that she is dead??" Bulma leapt to her feet, demanding an explanation.  
  
"How do you know she hasn't died since she was first found??" he countered.  
  
The retort stopped Bulma cold. How WOULD she know if Sashima had not died while they had sat waiting for Goku? Hurriedly, she bent down and felt for a pulse. Sighing with relief as she detected the faint pulsations, she stood back up and pointed a finger at the officer's chest.  
  
"Look mister, I found a pulse in her right now, and if you don't believe me, why don't you go and check for yourself?!"  
  
"I think I WILL check for myself!" The rash officer pushed past his companions and almost shoved Chi-Chi off her feet as he made his way towards Sashima.   
  
"Hey! You watch where you're going!" Gohan flew back to his mother's side and glared at the officer through narrowed eyes.   
  
"…stupid little brat…"  
  
"Are you calling my son a brat??!!" This time it was Chi-Chi's turn to be furious. The fire in her eyes raged as she lunged at the collar of the officer's uniform, barely missing it as Gohan held her back, restraining her from attacking anyone within range.  
  
"Mom, calm down! It's okay!"  
  
"No, it is NOT okay Gohan! That officer called you a stupid brat! My own son! How dare he?!"  
  
"Chi-Chi, would you please shut up?!"  
  
The sudden reprimand from Bulma did quiet Chi-Chi as the officer knelt by Sashima, and cursing under his breath, roughly took her wrist into his hand. His eyes widened as Goku's had, achieving the same look of utter astonishment.  
  
"By golly! She IS still alive! Quick, we have got to get her to the hospital, immediately!" Taking out a capsule and popping the top, a portable stretcher arrived out of thin air. He bent down once again as if to lift the body onto the contraption.  
  
"Wait a second, mister officer." Gohan stood between him and the body, "My father is going to be coming back any second now with something to revive her; I don't think you should move her while she's in this condition--"  
  
"Move aside kid!"  
  
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size??" Bulma stood in front of Gohan and directly in the officer's face. Bulma by no means was a short woman--and in times of her fury, a few more inches were added onto her. "If you harm the kid, I will personally see your superior and have a nice little chat with him about the conduct of his officers--"  
  
"Ms. Briefs, it is police duty to ensure the safety of all citizens, and since she is still alive, the logical thing to do will be to move her to the Satan City General--"  
  
"This is Capsule Corporation we are at, therefore you are speaking on MY property! If this is the case, I'm afraid you will have to speak to my lawyer--"  
  
"Look up there!" One of the two remaining officers pointed a shaky finger up at the sky. "What…what is that??"  
  
"It's Dad!" Gohan exclaimed, a smile overcoming his face. "Dad's returning with the senzu bean!"  
  
Slowly, Goku descended downwards, the serious expression still plastered onto his face. Ignoring the gawks that the three officers shot towards him, he made his way towards the group.  
  
"Did you get the senzu bean from Karin?" Bulma asked uneasily.  
  
"Yes, I was able to…although Karin says that this is one from the last batch he made…we might be in trouble if a new enemy comes to Earth and we are not able to deal with them…"  
  
Bulma sighed. "Yes I know…but let's not worry about that right now. Quick, we've got to give this to Sashima!"  
  
"Sashima? So that's who she is…"  
  
"Yes! Hand me the senzu bean, Goku!"  
  
Taking the precious green bean from Goku's hand, Bulma rushed to Sashima's side for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day. Chi-Chi, Goku, and Gohan stood beside her, creating a circle which shielded the body from the view of the three officers, who looked on with curiosity several feet away, yet dared not get too close to the presence of Goku.  
  
Bulma took a deep breath. With quivering fingers, she slowly pressed the senzu bean into Sashima's mouth, tilting her head ever so gently for her to swallow. After making sure the bean had gone down her esophagus, the only thing they could do was wait.  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Heh, sorry I uploaded this a day later than I said I would…been kinda busy, but now that vacation has started, things are going to be way smoother. Is it just me, or do the characters sound a little OOC? If they are, any suggestions on how I can improve the writing would be well appreciated! I don't know when the next update will be…sometime before Christmas I'm expecting, but if I don't have it up by then, MERRY CHRISTMAS! 


	8. The Aftermath

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 8 - The Aftermath  
  
  
  
"…Do you think it will work?" Chi-Chi's soft voice rang in an air of uneasiness.  
  
"I sincerely hope it does…" replied Bulma. She honestly did not know if the senzu bean would work on someone like Sashima. As far as she knew, she was not a native to Bulma's dimension.  
  
"Look!" The abrupt cry issued from Gohan broke Bulma free from her musings. "She's waking up!"  
  
And indeed she was. Slowly but surely, first Sashima's fingers, then hands began to stir. Muscles in her pale, yet bloodstained face contracted this way and that, fighting amongst themselves. Her eyes still closed, they struggled to gain control. Eventually the eyelids fluttered open, revealing cat-like red eyes, which blinked rapidly, taking in the scene around them.  
  
"Damn headache…" were the first things out of Sashima's mouth as she placed a hand to the back of her ruffled hair and sat up. "What happened?" Glancing around at the four people who even now encircled her, she looked from one to the other, waiting for someone to speak.  
  
Bulma was the first to come to her senses. Blinking quickly to fight back tears, she wrapped her arms around Sashima, ignoring the fact that she was still drenched in blood. "Oh Sashima, I'm so glad that you're alive! I thought that you had died in that explosion!"   
  
Her face became solemn as she remembered the moments before the hospital had erupted into a million shards. "I thought I was a goner too…for awhile…"  
  
"What happened?" This was the first time that Goku had spoken ever since the senzu bean had been administered to Sashima.  
  
In truth, Goku was genuinely at a lost of ideas. As soon as Sashima had regained consciousness, Goku immediately took a ki reading on her. He knew that the senzu beans would restore any health lost, and unless Sashima knew how to hide her ki readings, the measure he took on her would be fairly accurate. He doubted though, that she would have tried anything of the like--she had seemed fazed enough that it was unlikely the first thing that came to mind was to hide her ki.  
  
The readings that were received by Goku had severely startled him. Although by no means was she a threat to himself or any of his friends, her power level hovered around a solid 500, about a hundred times stronger than the average human. Judging from the power level, it would have not been any difficulty if Sashima had wanted to do a normal human any harm.  
  
"…Who are you?" The look on Sashima's face was indescribable as Bulma, Chi-Chi, Goku, and Gohan all sweat dropped.   
  
"Oh hehe I should explain…" Bulma chuckled sheepishly as she regained composure. She started off by nodding at Chi-Chi. "This is my friend Chi-Chi." Chi-Chi gave a warm smile in the direction of Sashima. "This is my friend Goku, who's also Chi-Chi's husband."  
  
"Hi!" replied the cheery Goku. His kid-like manners had obviously returned to him once the brunt of the situation at the hospital had worn off.  
  
"And this is their son, Gohan. He's the one who found you, Sashima."  
  
"It's nice to meet all of you, and I sincerely thank you for all the help you gave me. I'm sure that we'll all become good friends in the near future." Every word that came out of Sashima's mouth, she had honesty and truly meant them. She didn't know what might've happened to her if they hadn't found her and did whatever they did to revive her.  
  
"It was no big deal. If your Bulma's friend, then you're our friend, too." Goku grinned his usual goofy grin though laid a land to his stomach, which had growled incessantly. "Wow…I forgot that we haven't had dinner yet…"  
  
His comment was returned with a slap on the shoulder by Chi-Chi. "Do you never stop thinking about eating?? Don't you see that Bulma needs us here and--"  
  
"No it's okay Chi-Chi, things are under control--you can all go home and have a nice dinner."  
  
"But--"  
  
"But Mom, even Bulma says that she doesn't need us here anymore. Besides, Dad's right, I'm getting a little hungry, too…" Timidly Gohan looked up at the towering form of his mother.  
  
Chi-Chi sighed, slumping her shoulders and finally admitting defeat. "This is what happens when you live with two Saiyans who consumes a mountain of food three times a day…" she muttered to herself. Straightening up, she turned to Bulma. "Well Bulma…if you don't need us here anymore…"  
  
"No it's alright Chi-Chi, you all go home and relax for the rest of the night. I truly appreciate all the work you have done for me and Capsule Corporation tonight…I don't know what I would've done without Goku, Gohan, and your help, Chi-Chi."  
  
"Since you put it that way, and there's nothing more to be done, I guess we should go back home now and feed these two Saiyans of mine. But if anything comes up, contact us okay Bulma?"  
  
"Thanks Chi-Chi, I'll remember to."   
  
Making their way carefully down the rubble, the Son family descended back down to the grassy lawns of Capsule Corporation, their dark silhouettes casting eerily onto the spots illuminated from the bright lights the police had set up a couple of hours before. From her skirt pocket Chi-Chi took out the capsule containing the Son's car, pressing the miniature button at the top. With a poof, the compact car appeared and the three Sons stepped inside.  
  
Goku was still deep in thought. His mind was not on the scrumptious food that Chi-Chi would be cooking up very presently, but still a nagging feeling in his stomach told him that Sashima had been avoiding his last question. She had never answered how she managed to survive, and he was pretty certain that no one beside himself would have bothered to ask. 'Oh well, at least if she tries anything, she'll be easy to stop,' Goku thought to himself.  
  
"Bye Bulma! Bye Sashima!" Chi-Chi waved as she started the engine with a roar. "Don't forget to call if you need us!" With that, she reversed the car, wheels spinning. Zooming onto the cement pathway, she speed out the main entrance of Capsule Corporation and into the summer night.  
  
"Bye!" Bulma called after her. When the car was no longer in view, she turned to look down on Sashima, who had not spoken for some time. Her eyes were gazing fixedly into the forests on the edges of Capsule Corporation, as if attempting to decipher the hidden secrets of what lay within them.  
  
"Um Sashima…" Bulma began, slowly waving a hand in front of her almost glazed eyes.  
  
"Oh what?" Snapping out of her temporary state of mind, she swerved her head to face Bulma. "Sorry, I was just thinking about things…"  
  
Bulma smiled despite that night's events. "That's very understandable, seeing what you've…been through today. But don't you want to get off this spot? I mean we are kind of in a dangerous place…and you still have all that blood over you…"  
  
Turning her head to glance back down at her torn and rattled clothes, Sashima let out a smothered gasp at the scarlet blood which had dried and crusted to her jeans and shirt, a layer of red over the skin on her body. Long since dried, blood coated every inch of her face, a ghastly sight to be viewed indeed.  
  
"Ugh, you're right," replied Sashima, looking from one blood-covered hand to the next. "I've got to get cleaned up." Pushing herself from the wreckage, she had not felt so free in her life. As if a jagged collar had been removed from her neck, Sashima's spirits soared higher than ever, above the pure crystal-clear clouds to the heavens beyond; in her brief gloom of the previous hours, she had forgotten what it felt like before, when her energy had not slipped though cracks and became lost to her.  
  
"Bulma?"  
  
Bulma's thoughts were interrupted as the red-haired woman walking in step with her called out from her side. They had made their way until they were once again on the solid Capsule Corporation grounds. Their destination: Bulma's massive house on the edge of the corporation grounds.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Are those police officers hiding behind those bushes staring at us?"  
  
"Huh? What officers?"  
  
Wheeling around, Bulma caught sight of the three officers who had been with them on top of the wreckage, cowering behind the branches and leaves that partially screened them from view. In the middle of the three was the one who was apparently their leader, the one who Bulma herself had gotten into an argument earlier. It seemed they were trying their best to stay clear of anyone's suspecting view, yet the progress towards this goal seemed an immense distance off.  
  
'They're too afraid of Sashima in the condition that she's in--they must think she's some sort of person brought back from the dead!' The voice in Bulma's head sniggered sinisterly as she feigned a smile at the three officers, who tried all the most furiously to conceal themselves. To Sashima, she replied, "Oh THOSE officers…don't worry about them, I'll explain everything to you later."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So THAT'S how I came to be…" Sashima mused, pausing to reflect on Bulma's explanation of the senzu beans. "So you're saying you gave me one of those magic beans and they just completely healed me? That's why no scars or anything have been left?"   
  
"That's right." Bulma took another sip from her glass of lemonade and delicately placed it on her antique coffee table, handed down to her after many generations of the Briefs' family line. "Our friend Karin the cat grows them in his home on Korin Tower, and believe me, these beans have come in quite handy on many occasions."   
  
"Yeah, I can see why they are so demanding…"  
  
"Err…Sashima…the thing about senzu beans…not many people know about them and all…" began Bulma, trying to find the right words to explain what was on her mind.  
  
"Don't worry about it Bulma, I won't mention it to anyone, and besides, I probably won't be staying in Satan City for long, anyways…"  
  
"You're not? You know a way to go back to your dimension?"  
  
"I can always try, but not anytime soon. I need to make sure of some things before I…experiment a little…" A mysterious air enveloped the words of Sashima, shrouding their meanings and leaving Bulma in perplexity. Sashima herself must not have thought much of her peculiar meanings, for she stood up and looked around Bulma's sitting room, an almost confused look about her.  
  
"Um Bulma…not meaning to sound stupid or anything…since you have such a big house and all…where's the bathroom again?" Sheepishly she chuckled at herself.  
  
Bulma, too, laughed along with her. "I don't blame you, Sashima. When I was a little girl, I used to get confused where everything was the entire time! One time, when I was two, I went looking for my room on the west side of the house when it was directly on the other side!"  
  
Gales of laughter could be heard from the two women. After directing her to one of the bathrooms on the main floor, Bulma sat back in her armchair, arms resting peacefully and at ease behind her head. Her eyes began to wander out the patio doors, out onto the Capsule Corporation grounds down below. On the far edges of her property the sight of the wreckage sent an ice-cold chill down the length of her spine, despite the warm summer night's air that arrived into the house through the many open windows and doors. A cricket chirped its song somewhere close at range, and far off, the sound of moving traffic busied themselves through Satan City's many highways. The vague outlines of the mountains stretched near the horizons, and strained her ears, Bulma thought she heard the howl of a lone coyote calling to the nearly full moon which hung in the sky, stars waiting on it as if it was a mighty king, and they his servants.  
  
A slight breeze entered the sitting room, rustling the drapes ever so lightly. Bulma sighed, and flipped the channel on her big screen t.v, getting tired of the soap that had been playing on the previous channel. Gradually her thoughts returned to the day's events. Upon returning to her home, Bulma had insisted that Sashima borrow some of her clothes and take a shower to rinse out the caked blood.  
  
Meeting in the sitting room, Bulma had been deeply astonished at how Sashima had truly looked, after all the blood, dirt, and grime had washed off, clad in a fresh pair of drawstring sweats and a blue sleeveless shirt. Her ruby colored hair, still damp from the shower, hung in long strands down to mid-back, the locks accentuating her slightly round face. Clear peach skin made her crimson eyes yet the brighter, seemingly sharper at the edges. Bulma had also noticed the firm skin on Sashima's arms, noting that she had enough muscle in them to do quite a bit of harm to any normal person.  
  
"Thank you for joining us tonight as we bring you the latest coverage of Satan City's double tragedies. Good evening, I'm Rotsue Mizumi. I'm Sakura Rinasoko, in for Emomata Sakyuso…"  
  
"And the reporters are going to mess up all the facts about Capsule Corporation…" grumbled Bulma, much relieved that her father wasn't there. Last time there had been a story about C.C., Dr. Briefs had almost blew his top and had smashed the t.v. when the facts reported had been highly inaccurate. But that was not going to happen this time. Earlier, Bulma's mother had phoned in saying that Dr. Briefs had wanted to stay at the hospital with his assistants and workers who had been injured. She had told Bulma not to worry, and that they would be staying at the hospital overnight.  
  
"What do you mean by messing up the facts?" Bulma was half startled to find that Sashima had returned so quietly without her knowing. Taking a seat at the sofa, Sashima picked up her cold dinner and continued to devour the food hungrily.  
  
"Oh it's nothing…just that the Satan City reporters rely mainly on gossip and don't do a thorough enough of a job." Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Bulma recalled the times when they had actually done worse than that. She turned her attention back to the reporter on the screen, who was standing somewhere in the heart of downtown Satan City.  
  
"We have late-breaking details on that plane that crashed this afternoon in the heart of Satan City. The pilot has just informed us that before the crash, he had been experiencing engine problems with his craft, and aviation specialists have determined that foul play was not involved…"  
  
"So it wasn't Vegeta's fault after all…" Bulma whispered to herself, the pangs of guilt striking her one by one. "I was wrong to go after him…"  
  
"What do you mean Bulma? Who's this Vegeta person?" Sashima inquired.  
  
"Well remember this afternoon, when you saved me in my helicopter? Well I was going after this person…Vegeta's his name…he lives here with my family…I saw him flying from that other plane and I was being a foolish person again…I decided to go after him because I thought he had damaged that plane, but now…it turns out that it wasn't even his fault! If I hadn't just assumed it was him, then I wouldn't have gone after him, and then you wouldn't have had to risk your own neck for me and--"  
  
"Bulma, calm down." Moving over to where Bulma sat, Sashima patted the other woman's quivering shoulders. "It's not your fault…and besides, I was injured already before I met you…"  
  
"But if you hadn't had to save me, then--"  
  
"Just forget about it Bulma."  
  
She sighed, knowing the younger woman had a point that Bulma herself could not override. Silently, they faced the t.v. again, which flashed the story on the events of Capsule Corporation.  
  
"…And here behind me is the vast quantities of damage done by both the fire and the explosion to this hospital. Sources tell us that the damage is estimated at one billion dollars. So far, there has been a total of fifty-nine reported deaths, and over sixty people have been injured, twenty-six of them critically. They have all been transported to Satan City General Hospital, and police have told me that there are fifteen people still missing. We are trying to get an interview through to Dr. Briefs, the CEO of Capsule Corporation, yet he has not responded. We will stay here overnight to bring you the latest information on the Capsule Corporation Hospital disaster…"  
  
"Hey Sashima?" The question had never occurred to Bulma until now, when the report had came on. "How DID the explosion happen? Do you know?"  
  
A shadow seemed to pass over the fairness of her face. "Well, I remember I was in the kitchen and I was trying to get a window open because I didn't have enough energy left to teleport or do anything else to get out of there…and the flames just surrounded the entire place and I had nowhere else to go…I was trapped in the kitchen. Then all those gas stoves lined up against the walls…" she trailed off, leaving the obvious detail unsaid. Changing the subject she said, "It must be nice to own such a wealthy company…"  
  
"There are the bad things about it. Like the responsibilities and such. And when so many people in the world know your name, you can't get much privacy. I'm just glad I have such good friends that I can count on, to keep me company. I might've gone crazy without them heh."  
  
"So you've known Goku and Chi-Chi for a long time?"  
  
"Yeah I guess you can say that…I met Goku when I was a teen, during my summer break. He was only a little kid then, and really cute I must say. He accompanied me throughout my travels and along the way we met many people, who became our friends and enemies. He eventually went to train with the Turtle Master, Muten Roshi, and he became a great martial artist. He competed in many tournaments, and I was there all along, supporting him. A while later he met Chi-Chi and they got married, and soon Chi-Chi and I became friends as well. And since then, Goku and his friends have endured many hardships, many challenges, and faced many enemies who had wanted to do the Earth harm…"  
  
"Enemies who wanted to do the Earth harm?" echoed Sashima. "You…you mean these people were aliens?" She had never heard of such things, and the thought appeared thoroughly unrealistic to her.  
  
"I guess you can call them aliens…and I guess you can call Goku and everyone else the "Earth's Defenders," yet no one realizes, so I suppose this is a good thing. Besides, the Earth is safe…for now."  
  
"Wow…I would like to meet some of your other friends someday…" Sashima's mind did some quick thinking. She had never seen any of Bulma's friends in action, and seeing them "fight" would definitely be a worthwhile experience. 'No,' another part of her brain intervened, 'you don't go around picking fights, Sashima…'  
  
"So you live here with just your mother and father?"  
  
"No…I have another "guest" in my house. I mentioned him earlier--Vegeta. He usually goes out somewhere to train and comes back only for meals and sleep. The reason I left so quickly this afternoon was because he was causing some trouble on the grounds."  
  
"Oh! So HE was the person who caused all those blasts. I knew I saw someone out the window…"  
  
"Yeah that was him, causing damage around Capsule Corporation, scaring the people out of their wits. Scared the shit out of me too when I sorta err…provoked him. Actually, I thought he was going to kill me, but all he did was bang these shoulders and they still hurt like hell. Damnass Vegeta," Bulma scowled, "I'll get him someday. I'm willing to bet that he had something to do with that fire at the hospital today--"  
  
SLAM! Sashima jumped at the sudden sound, yet Bulma had become accustomed to it in the past few months. She got up from her armchair and stood, a look of pure determination on her face.  
  
"What was that?" Sashima's eyes darted across the well-lit room and into the darkened corridors beyond, her senses on alert.  
  
"The back door. Vegeta has returned."  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Wow…long chapter…about 1,000 words longer than usual…and I really need to start thinking about the details and how to write the other events of the story. I have the beginning, that's done. I know the ending. All I need now is a good solid middle…and I hate to admit it, but I'm sort of at a shortage of ideas. 


	9. Around Satan City

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 9 - Around Satan City  
  
  
  
"Are you positive?" Sashima asked, slowly rotating her head around till it faced the direction of the back door, on the other side of the kitchen.  
  
Nodding slowly, Bulma made her way through the immense amount of furniture in the sitting room, pausing slightly in the doorway. "He always comes home at this time to get some food, wash up, and sleep."  
  
"Wait, I'll come with you," Sashima said, making her route to the doorway as well. "If he decides to try anything…"  
  
Bulma sighed. Maybe she was overestimating Sashima, but she doubted if even she could stand up to the forces of a Saiyan. "Vegeta is no ordinary person, Sashima. He is ruthless and will not hesitate to exert harm on anyone he wishes to."  
  
"Maybe so, but I'm pretty confident about this Bulma."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Voices floated from the sitting room of Capsule Corporation and smacked themselves right against the keen ears of Vegeta, who was indeed in the kitchen. He smirked to himself. 'So that woman has a friend over and they are coming for me, eh?' he thought to himself. He had heard every single word uttered ever since he had entered the house, much thanks to his extra-sharp Saiyan ears. 'That other woman seems confident she will defeat me,' the thoughts continued to run, 'but no matter, her ki is only 500 and I'll break her neck before she even realizes it.' Chuckling inwardly, he dug deeper into the fridge for any more meat that might've been left over.  
  
The footsteps came nearer as he sat down with an enormous plate of cold meats and began to devour them greedily at the table. Presently, Bulma and Sashima had both entered the spacious kitchen, Bulma's eyes darting over to Vegeta instantly.  
  
"Vegeta."  
  
"What do you want woman?" Casually he resumed his eating, loudly chugging down an entire gallon of milk as he spoke.  
  
"Where were you when the fire broke out?"  
  
"What fire?" Vegeta looked up from his plate of food and scowled at Bulma's demanding face.  
  
"The one at the hospital, mister! And don't tell me that you didn't have anything to do with it!"  
  
"Look woman, I do not know what the hell you are talking about and I certainly would not waste my time setting an insignificant fire when I could just blow this measly planet to dust!" His eyes lashed out dangerously, just as he had done earlier that day.  
  
Bulma gulped, sensing Vegeta's temper on the rise. If she was not careful he might just blow his top for the second time that day and she might end up worst than two bruised shoulders. Fortunately, Sashima broke the silence.  
  
"Bulma, I don't think it was him."  
  
Her eyes roamed from Vegeta and back to Sashima before making her response. 'How could it not be him?' Her mind shouted at her furiously, 'Who else would do such a thing…?'  
  
Clearing her throat, Bulma spoke. "How can you be so sure Sashima?"  
  
There was that same faraway look in the ruby-colored eyes that Bulma had seen when Sashima had been atop the masses of rubble. Deep down, the sorrow re-coursed itself through her stomach as Bulma was finally struck that Sashima was, once again, in deep thought.  
  
"I was at the door of the hospital room when the fire began," she started to speak, her eyes now glued to Vegeta, "and I saw the person who started the fire."  
  
A gasp and an unbearable silence permeated the kitchen. Vegeta had finished eating and was staring intently at the two women near the doorway, while Bulma, widened eyes, had her own gaze on Sashima. Outside on the grounds of Capsule Corporation, the crickets had momentarily halted their night's song, the air still and unmoving as well.  
  
Sashima continued, "I saw this person. And they were in no way like that man over there," she nodded over in Vegeta's direction. "This man is short with a stocky build. The person I saw was lean and much taller, and he poured some sort of liquid onto newspapers to start the fire. I tried to go after him," this time she looked at Bulma, an almost pained look resting on her face, "but he had gone by the time I was able to get out of the room…and the fire was already getting out of control…"  
  
"Sashima, are you sure? You positive you hadn't saw the person incorrectly?" Still bewildered, Bulma's mouth hung open as she gawked at Vegeta, a slow smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.  
  
"I swear, Bulma. That person did not look a thing like Vegeta."  
  
"But then…who would want to destroy a hospital?"  
  
"Do you have any enemies? Or know of any rival companies who want to deliberately sabotage Capsule Corporation so the technological industry will go their way?"  
  
Bulma thought for a moment, her eyebrows deeply furrowed. "No, none that I can think of right off the top of my head," she at last replied. "There used to be the Red Ribbon Army, but Goku destroyed them a long time ago…"  
  
"Well then, most likely it's someone who wants to make bad publicity for Capsule Corp…and I don't think, judging from his attitude…" Sashima raised an eyebrow at Vegeta, "that your guest would bother to do that…"  
  
"Listen to the red-haired one, woman. At least she has an ounce of sense in her." Vegeta sneered, thoroughly pleased the woman had been proven wrong and humiliated through her wrongdoings. "Don't you owe me an apology woman?"  
  
Bulma cast her eyes, ashamed, to the floor. Gritting her teeth, she mumbled an almost incoherent answer that sounded something like, "I'm sorry for accusing you, Vegeta."  
  
His sensitive Saiyan ears no doubt picked up the answer. Satisfied, he put on his usual smirk. "That's more like it." Sauntering out of the room, he made his way up the flight of stairs to the second floor.  
  
"Geez does that guy always smirk?" Walking over to the table she picked up Vegeta's empty plate and started washing it in the sink.  
  
"When he's a good mood, yes. When he's angered, then most likely he'll be yelling in your face," was Bulma's response. Taking the chair Vegeta had left vacant, she collapsed wearily onto it and buried her face in her hands. "I just can't believe I was so dense to accuse Vegeta of two things! And in the same day as well!"  
  
"Hey cheer up Bulma, Vegeta doesn't seem like such a bad guy to me…" Rinsing away the soapsuds, the plate was placed in the dish rack to dry. Sashima wiped her hands clean on a paper towel before taking a seat to join Bulma at the table.  
  
"Well that's probably because you've only met him, Sashima. And besides, he was in an unusually good mood. Just don't try and irritate him, because if you do, only Goku will be able to stop him." Bulma threw the empty milk can into the recycling before rising from her seat, stretching out her arms and stifling a yawn. "It's getting late. I'll show you to your room."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Wow Bulma, I didn't know there were so many rooms in this place…" Sashima stared in awe at the many corridors, rooms, and spaces on the second floor of Bulma's prestigious home. In every direction she turned, she was faced with another vast chamber. At the end of each hallway, more corridors branched off in every which direction. Exquisite paintings lined these hallways, and bright fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling lighted every few feet. "A person can so easily get lost in here Bulma--do you check for starving thieves in these halls every so often?" Sashima joked.  
  
Laughing, Bulma replied, "Well I should hope no thieves get into this place. Much money and time goes into security at Capsule Corporation so that nothing that is not supposed to be known leaks out or anything unwanted sneaks in."  
  
They continued along the main hall of the second floor, pausing every once in awhile for Bulma to show Sashima the important locations. "Here is the main bathroom. Over there is my parents' bedroom, and this one here is mine. And here--" Bulma and Sashima stopped before a closed door near the middle of the main hallway, in front of the railings that looked down onto the first floor, "--is your room."  
  
Pushing wide the door, Sashima's breath caught in her throat. The room was simple, yet stunningly delightful all the same. On the side were two sets of closet doors, the kind where they slid with a touch of a hand. Two dressers flanked the bed in the middle of the room, an elegant table lamp on each. The bed itself rose four feet from the ground and was equipped with matching sets of sheets, covers, and pillows. On one dresser stood its own cordless phone, and at the far side of the room, opposite the closets, a great mahogany desk stood with its own straight-backed chair and desk lamp, amid the necessary writing implements. A bookshelf stood in another corner of the room, piled full and overflowing with the texts. Behind the bed, two windows, their glass smooth as ice, velvet curtains shrouding the outside from view. Opposite these windows, an ancient clock hung on the wall, intoning the time as 11:30 P.M. Between the bookshelf and the desk was another closed door.  
  
"Oh my God Bulma…this is just too much…I don't deserve to stay in such a room!" Sashima protested, still at astonishment with the surroundings.  
  
"No I insist you stay in this room, Sashima. Besides, even if you were in another room, it would look just about the same as this one." Bulma smiled and pointed to the door at the far side of the room. "Oh and that's the door to the bathroom."  
  
"No way…" Sashima gasped, running over and throwing the door open. Inside were a spa-like bathtub, two sinks, and a toilet, all resting on a shiny marble floor. "My God Bulma, this place is good enough for kings to live in! I simply cannot receive such lavishness!"  
  
Bulma shook her head. "It's not lavish; most of the other guestrooms have their own bathrooms attached as well. That's why we only have one main bathroom on this floor."  
  
"Wow…" Sashima had never seen a place so extravagant in the twenty-two years of her life, much less lived in one. 'If these are the guestrooms, then I would probably be dead from seeing too much if I ever entered the main rooms…' Returning to the bedroom, Sashima sat down on the soft blanket, fingering the smooth fabric between her fingertips. "I truly thank you for this Bulma…someday I will pay you back for your hospitality."  
  
"It's nothing. We're friends now, aren't we?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Oh!" Hurrying out of the room, Bulma quickly returned with a stack of clothes. "Since you don't have any clothes with you besides the ones in the wash, and since you're about my size, you can borrow one of my nightgowns to sleep in. Here's a pair of slippers as well," said Bulma, as she made for the door. "One more thing…Vegeta's room is at the end of the hall…just for your information…" Her eyes darted nervously toward that particular direction as she spoke.  
  
"Oh that's fine with me," Sashima replied, absent-mindedly taking in the room once more.  
  
"Well I'll leave you to get settled then. Good night." Closing the door as she left the room, Bulma headed silently to her own room at the other end of the hall.  
  
A sudden wave of sleep hit Sashima forcefully, and reluctantly she got up, making sure the door had been locked. She changed into the nightgown Bulma had supplied her, hanging the bathrobe on the chair by the desk. Wearied by the day's events, she flung herself beneath the covers, her head resting gently on the pillows, which were soft as snow.  
  
Burying herself deep into the comforts of the bed, Sashima slowly drifted off to sleep. Both windows flew open and the light switch flipped itself off, throwing the room into darkness.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Good morning!" Bulma was cheery as she greeted Sashima for breakfast the next morning. Sitting down to a hearty breakfast of eggs and sausage, they discussed their plans for that day.  
  
"I guess I would like to go around Satan City for awhile, see the sights and all…" Sashima began, slowly chewing her food and putting on a smile. Bulma was not exactly the best cook in the world, and she hastened to gulp down some orange juice in order to quench the mysterious flavor of the sausages. "Bulma…since I don't have anywhere else to go…are you sure it's okay if I still here for awhile?"  
  
"Of course you can! My parents wouldn't mind, and I'll be glad if you stayed!" said Bulma, enthusiastically.  
  
"Then I think it'll be better if I bought some stuff of my own then." Fishing into a pocket of her jeans, she dug out her wallet and took out some bills. "They use the Zeni here as well?" she inquired, holding up the money.  
  
"Yup, exact same as we have here." Bulma examined the currency curiously, making certain that it was indeed the type they used in Satan City and the rest of the world.  
  
Replacing the bills into her wallet, Sashima rose from the table and washed her plate and fork in the sink, mentioning, "I'm going to get a few things today, so if you don't need me around Capsule Corp., I won't be back till later this afternoon."  
  
"That's fine. I would go with you and give you a tour of the city, but I expect the police would want to interview me today and there's things to be taken care of in regard to yesterday."  
  
"I think I can manage on my own," responded Sashima, wiping her hands dry and picking up a soda to drink on the way. "Just show me which direction is downtown and I'll be able to find where everything is."  
  
Following her outside, Bulma pointed to the east, where tall skyscrapers could be seen against the morning sky. It was only about 10:30 A.M., yet the heat had already begun to settle in.  
  
"Thanks. I'll see you later this afternoon!" Sashima called back to Bulma as she walked down the main pathway and to the front gates. With a wave of her hand, she exited the gates, turning the corner and out of sight.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Satan City is much bigger than it looks…" Sashima mused, sitting down at a round table in an extremely modern coffeehouse, her numerous shopping bags cluttered at her feet. She sipped her frappuccino thoughtfully, her eyes roaming out the windows of the coffeehouse and at the many pedestrians who busied themselves on the streets of Satan City. It was no surprise though--the lunch hour was always a busy time.   
  
Her sharp eyes caught sight of a man almost hidden in the doorway of a building opposite the coffeehouse. Dressed all in black with a shock of dark brown hair, he caught the red-haired woman intently gazing at him and quickly entered the building.  
  
"Strange…wasn't that the person who was with me in that department store…and the museum…and that café?"  
  
Sensing danger, she picked up her various bags and packages and entered the restroom. After making sure that the lock was bolted to prevent anyone from entering, Sashima laid her bags down on the tiled floor and placed her right hand over them. In a wink, they were gone. Bulma would get one hell of a surprise when she found them in Sashima's room, but it was better to proceed without any hindrances from now on…  
  
Unbolting the restroom door, Sashima nonchalantly strode out of the coffeehouse and onto the sidewalk in front. She made her way through the crowd, pausing once in awhile as if to look in a shop window. The man dressed in black had begun to tail her once again.  
  
She was already getting tired of being pursued and decided to end it once and for all. Deliberately, she led him down a smaller street, and then another one, and so on, until they reached a deserted part of the city by the abandoned warehouses near the waterfront.  
  
Entering one of the deserted warehouses, she walked among the abundant crates and boxes piled in the center of the cold, barren floor. From behind, the sound of rushing footsteps could be heard, and quickly Sashima put up a ki shield, although allowing her to be struck on the head. The force was softened immensely, even though she knew her attacker thought he had struck her painfully. In reality, she had felt little of the impact, but all the same, she smirked and dropped HERSELF into unconsciousness…  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Happy New Year 2003! Yeah I know I said I might get a chapter up every two days since it's break, but yeah…I have other things to do. So wait, it may take awhile. Still don't know how long this story is going to be…estimating at about 30 chapters, more or less. Gah…I'm not too good at writing fight scenes…*cringes in thought of Chapter 10* 


	10. Golden Ear

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 10 - Golden Ear  
  
  
  
Drip. Drip. Drip.  
  
"Wake her up."  
  
"Yes, Boss."  
  
The man with the shock of dark brown hair reached for the battered bucket that stood on the edge of the doorway. Heaving it up from the stone floor with his powerful hands, he threw the ice cold water at the limp figure that was slumped against a nearby wall.  
  
Sashima spluttered and spat out a mouthful of the foul water, which tasted vaguely of rotten sewage. She coughed, holding her throat with her hands and retched out the unpleasant tastes. 'Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…' It was too late to undo what she had done, and now she would have to face the consequences of her actions.  
  
Straightening, she rose to her feet, only to stare right into the barrel of a silver pistol.  
  
"Who are you people and what do you want with me?" She spat out, staring the gunman directly in the eyes, her gaze unwavering. He was the same person who had knocked her over the head earlier.  
  
"Just shut your mouth and be quiet. Move!" He barked and waved the gun towards the open doorway, rotating the barrel to the side of her head instead of to the face. "Move! Out the door, now!"  
  
"Geez you could at least be a little more polite." Rolling her eyes, she made her way out of the stone room, and into a larger chamber that looked suspiciously like a warehouse. The only difference, though, was that it seemed much more orderly--at least from the one she had come from. Boxes and crates that supposedly littered every one of these storage areas were placed neatly to the sides, and there were a few chairs and desks lying around. Although most of the high windows on the first, second, and third floors were cracked and weather-beaten, sheaths of light still shone through, emitting into the room an eerie type of calmness--though it was far from a pleasant atmosphere, as far as Sashima could tell.  
  
In the middle of the room was a barren chair, and about twenty thickset men gathered around, talking aimlessly, the sound of their voices echoing throughout the area, one voice hardly distinguishable from the rest. As Sashima slowly made her way towards them, they immediately hushed and cleared the way to the wooden chair in the middle of the room.  
  
"Sit!" The gunman ordered roughly, grabbing her by the arm and literally shoving her down into the chair. She made no protest, but only stared at the figures surrounding her.  
  
Boldly, she repeated her previous question. "Why did you bring me here??" she demanded.  
  
"You'll find out soon enough," the brown-haired man sneered, waving the gun still in Sashima's direction. "Luke, go get some rope and tie her up."  
  
A stocky man with a mane of blond hair nodded and scurried off into a back room. He returned with a coil of thick rope, and bound Sashima's feet and arms to the chair securely, preventing any form of movement.  
  
"Is everything under control here?" A new voice rang through the warehouse, and Sashima saw that every one of the men in the room jumped slightly at the sound of it.  
  
"Yes Boss. She is right here."  
  
The brown-haired man lowed his gun and stepped back, revealing a muscular man. About six feet tall, he had green eyes and caramel-colored hair. Although he seemed no more than twenty-five, the presence of this one person seemed to extend to every person in the room that he was a most formidable person.  
  
Stepping into the dim light, he slowly paced around the chair Sashima was bound in, observing her closely. From the close distance between them, she noticed that a part of his right ear was missing; on the left hung a giant golden earring.  
  
"What do you want with me?" She challenged his gaze. "Well?? I've asked that damn question three times and no one even bothers to tell me??"  
  
He stopped in mid-step, throwing back his head in a mocking laugh. "You didn't tell her? Boys, I thought you had more manners than that!"  
  
"I'm sorry Boss…I didn't think that we should unless they were your orders…" The brown-haired man mumbled his apologizes.  
  
"Well, she IS our honored guest here Nathan…" he paused, looking into Sashima's face. "So you want to know why you are here?"  
  
"That would certainly be a nice thing to know!" she replied, scowling and getting highly annoyed by his mocking manner.  
  
"Tsk tsk. A feisty one eh?" He reached out and stroked Sashima's chin. Twisting away, she spat into his face.  
  
"Get your dirty hands away from me or you'll regret it!" She lashed out, eyes flashing dangerously.  
  
He backed away, as if he had decided to heed her warning. After a second, though, he made the better judgment and resumed his cool composure.  
  
"I see…if that's the way you want it. And you say you want to know why you have been brought here by Nathan?"  
  
"Yes!" In her mind Sashima thought of the possible reasons why this one person was so dense. Maybe he had been dropped on the head when he was a child. Maybe he was an idiot by birth. Maybe both reasons. Whatever the reason, she hated his attitude and his slow way of giving answers.  
  
"Do you recognize this person?" Sneering, he pulled out a faded photograph and stuck it in Sashima's face.  
  
She gasped at what she saw in the aged photograph.  
  
Her heart stopped in mid-beat.  
  
Slowly her mouth dropped open.  
  
  
"Where'd you get this?" Her voice shook with the words that came out of her mouth. The photograph was faded, yet it took little difficulty to see the resemblance of the person and Sashima herself. Although the figure in the photograph looked a little younger, she still bore the same fiery red hair and the bright ruby-red eyes. She was standing against a brick wall, her back pressed against it, a look of despair crossing the fine features of her face.  
  
"It was an old…what should I call it? Oh yes…antique passed down from the leaders of our little group here…" The leader of the gang smiled sweetly, pleased with how the photograph had affected the young woman.  
  
'It…it can't be…the last photograph of her…she wasn't this old…'  
  
"How were you able to get this? And why am I still here?" Sashima tore her eyes away from the photograph and back into the eyes of the gang leader. "And who are you?"  
  
"Who I am is not important," he replied nonchalantly, "though my boys here called me Golden Ear. As for the picture…this was taken two hundred years ago and preserved through all this time. It mentions that the person in this picture is a Sebina Makimoto."  
  
"But…but…what does she have to do with me?"  
  
"Nathan here saw you walking in downtown Satan City. He called me for instructions and I was the one who told him to tail you and bring you back here at once." Golden Ear snapped two fingers and one of his goons returned with a tattered chair. He sat down across from Sashima, crossing his legs and casually lighting a cigarette.  
  
"So he was looking for me specifically? Is that what you're saying?"  
  
"No. We have been looking for anyone who resembles Sebina for the last two hundred years." He took a long drag on the cigarette, slowing exhaling the smoke into the air.  
  
"I still do not understand. What did Sebina do for you to be hunting her predecessors?"  
  
He glanced at her, as if she were some insolent insect. "Well if you don't know, I might as well tell you a little story…"  
  
"Do tell. It'll keep us occupied for awhile."  
  
Golden Ear smirked and leaned closer to her. "I like your attitude."  
  
"Watch it, or I swear you're gonna get it."  
  
"Fine. We'll deal with you later. Now what was I planning to talk about?" Looking over at Nathan, he raised an eyebrow.  
  
"The story, Boss."  
  
"Oh yes, that. Well how did it go? Two hundred years ago in the city of Harakatsuma, we were only a small gang, not an advanced organization like we are now. They picked up this girl--" he stabbed a crooked finger at the photograph, "--and made her into one of them." Suddenly, he chuckled, and looked directly at Sashima. "If legend has it, they didn't make her into one of them. She was just used whenever someone needed a little fun."  
  
Sashima glared, clenching her fists and teeth in anger. She blinked back the tears that were struggling to fall. 'No…that can't have happened…she wasn't…' She would have blown the place apart, yet her unconsciousness stunt had temporarily frozen those traits. Besides, she needed to hear the story.  
  
"Anyways," Golden Ear continued, "she was among ten others like her. She was a strong person, but not strong enough. One day she got hold of a bomb and sneaked into the headquarters of this gang, two hundred years ago. All the members were inside the warehouse, just like this one. All Two hundred and seventy-nine of them, for a meeting. She set fire to the warehouse and added the bomb to it. Only one person survived, and that was the young son of the gang leader. Eventually he hunted her down and killed her, twenty shots through the head."  
  
"NO! YOU MONSTERS!" In a fit of rage, she struggled against the bindings on her, but it was no use. "YOU DEVILS! HOW--HOW--COULD YOU?!"  
  
"We can and we do girlie." His eyes lingered over her face momentarily, as if wondering what to say next. "The son of the gang leader vowed to avenge the deaths of the two hundred and seventy-eight people in the warehouse by hunting down that exact number of Sebina's descendents. It is still so until this day."  
  
"That was in Harakatsuma, so how the hell did it get to Satan City?" Sashima had calmed down by now, her common sense returning as well.  
  
"You would not believe how big of an organization we are today. There are branches of us throughout the country, and I am only one of the many leaders of the local branches." Stubbing out his cigarette, he lit another one, ashes dropping onto his gray shirt.  
  
"So what are you going to do then? Kill me just because I look like the person in the photograph?"  
  
"Why yes we are, as you are an almost exact replica of this person, aren't you?"  
  
"Maybe I am, but does that matter to you?"  
  
Grinning, he stood up and once again encircled the bound Sashima. "No it doesn't, but from the look on your face, it seems as if you knew Sebina."  
  
Silence. The drip of leaking water could be heard.  
  
Her teeth hurt as she finally unclenched them. "She was my sister," she whispered, the tears begging to be released from her eyes.  
  
The hushed silence was almost deafening. Somewhere across the water, a lone seagull cried out.  
  
"Well…this is certainly interesting…" Golden Ear was behind her now, laying a rough hand onto her shoulder. "All the more thrilling to kill such a directly related person of that damned Sebina. Your blood would certainly make up a nice store in our antiques room…"  
  
"You are never going to get my blood."  
  
"We have gotten the blood of two hundred and seventy-seven other descendents of Sebina. I do not see how you would be any different."  
  
The figure bounced back and forth in Sashima's mind. "Two hundred and seventy-seven people you have killed? Just because of one thing? What if they turned out they had nothing to do with Sebina??" The amount of people slaughter sickened Sashima. Only a ruthless person would do such a thing.  
  
Golden Ear snickered, showing straight, white teeth. "Hah, we wish. Two hundred and seventy-seven people killed since Sebina killed our people two hundred years ago. We have been keeping track all these years, and we ourselves would not have managed to find so many people in the first place. As for the descendents…we probably did make a few mistakes along the way and killed some innocent people, but it was all for a good cause."  
  
"You are sick, killing all the innocent people!" she cried out.  
  
"Yes we are, and unfortunately for us, you are going to be the last victim resulting from it." The gang leader focused his attention to Nathan. "Untie her."  
  
"Yes Boss."  
  
Bowing his head, he loosened the bonds on her, jerking the ropes free from her hands and feet. She rose and massaged her tender arms, only to have them wrenched behind her back by two men who stood on either side of her.  
  
Golden Ear took the gun from Nathan and aimed it straight at Sashima's heart. She braced herself, the ki shield already in place to deflect the bullets that inevitably would come her way. The plan was already figured out. As soon as the shot had hit her, she would teleport and take down all of these men. She would notify the police, and she herself would leave the scene and return to Capsule Corporation. From there, she would find a way to get back to Harakatsuma.  
  
After a moment's time, Golden Ear lowed the gun and sauntered over to where Sashima stood, held in place by the two ruffians. He stood, unmoving, his green eyes piercing hers, his mouth breaking into a smirk. He got even closer. As he looked her up a down, a chill went down Sashima's spine. Inclined to do something, yet she had never been in a situation like the present one, and she was paralyzed to the cold floor.  
  
"Get your eyes away from me and hurry up with the killing." Her voice quavered only slightly.  
  
Without warning, he pressed his mouth against hers.  
  
Her body turned to ice. Never having been kissed, ever, in her life, for a moment her brain had stopped functioning, but soon her conscience kicked in. Sashima struggled to break free from the tight grip his mouth had locked onto hers, but since both arms were held firmly behind her, the only thing she was able to do was kick him.  
  
The impact connected, and sent him flying about fifteen feet backwards, Golden Ear landing on his back against the wooden crates on the side of the warehouse. He cursed loudly, and a few members of the gang hurried to assist their battered boss. It seemed he might have broken a few bones during his landing on the crates.  
  
"Boss, are you alright?" Nathan inquired.   
  
"Does it look like I'm alright to you??!" A vein was throbbing in the temple of Golden Ear, and he whacked Nathan over the head. "Bitch, what the fuck did you do that for??" He directed this towards Sashima, who smiled despite herself.  
  
"I said before I didn't want your dirty-ass hands or anything else on me, and I told you that you would regret it!" Throwing back her head, she gave out a maniacal laugh.  
  
Golden Ear wiped the blood from his mouth and spat onto the floor. "Just like your sister, I see. Legend has it she was strong. Let's just see how strong you are against twenty of my men." Clearing his throat, he ordered, "Everyone, get in a circle around her. Yes, you too." He barked at the two who had held onto Sashima.  
  
Glancing quickly, she saw that there was no way out. The twenty men formed a tight circle around her, making it virtually impossible for any escape. 'Well then, they would have to deal with her the hard way…'  
  
"Do whatever you like with the bitch."  
  
Sashima froze. 'What??' If that was what she thought it meant, then…  
  
The men looked at one another, chuckling, then turned their heads towards her. She could almost see the psychotic waves of thought through each of their faces, and she shuddered as some of those grotesque things had crept into her head.  
  
Nathan was the second in command, below Golden Ear. His companions glanced patiently at him, waiting for the signal. As he nodded, the twenty of them lunged as one towards Sashima.  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Wow, what is going to happen to her? Break is over, and yes, I'm back in school. *sigh* Wish we didn't have to go back so soon…hopefully I'll write a better chapter next time… 


	11. Two Sides, One Body

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 11 - Two Sides, One Body  
  
  
  
The first man reached her, grabbing her left arm in a wild, yet firm grip. Another brusquely landed a hand onto her bare shoulder, which she twisted out of harm's way. Reaching over her shoulder at the hand on her left arm, she jerked free and swung her left leg upwards, connecting with the man's red face. Still more of them came, Sashima, mad punches swinging themselves her way, either ducked or countered with an attack of her own.  
  
She was trapped. Despite her efforts, only about half of the twenty men were down and rolling about in pain, and being surrounded by the remaining eleven or so gave her a treacherous feeling. It reminded her of a gazelle she had once seen, trapped and cornered by a pride of blood-hungry lions, backing slowly against a desolate wall of stone.   
  
"You've had enough yet?" Golden Ear advanced to the front of the pack, ignoring the groans of his fallen men, scattered every which way through the warehouse floor. "Or do you want to die and get it over with?"  
  
"Oh really?" Sashima sneered, crossing her arms against her chest and leaning casually against the wooden crates. "How many of your men are still here Golden Ear?" She mocked a cough, imitating something in need of air.  
  
"Thirteen, including me," he responded, a slight shadow crossing his features. "We are still too much of a match for you." Limping forward, he took three more paces. "What do you say to a quick death?"  
  
"Hmph," she smirked, noting the fact that Golden Ear had looked a bit frightened when he had counted the number of his men that remained. "I think not!"  
  
Quick as lightning and to the shock of the gang members, she disappeared, leaving nothingness to where she had once stood.  
  
"Did…did you just see that?"  
  
"Where did she go…?"  
  
"…How…how…did she do that?"  
  
"Boss, what do we do now?"  
  
"Shut up Nathan!" Golden Ear wheeled on his men, staring them squaring and sizing them up. "Don't just stand there! Find her!" Shouting, he waved his arms about maniacally.  
  
Nathan, Golden Ear's second-hand man, was the first to respond. As he made his way quickly towards the back of the crates, a blur of aqua streaked by him, swinging forth and connecting roughly with his stomach, then another kick to the face, sending him almost off his feet. Sashima came into view once more, Nathan having both the wind and senses knocked out of him so quickly. Before he could regain his mind, the red-haired woman had locked onto his shoulders and flipped herself backwards in a wide arc, taking him along with her. He landed painfully onto his spine, twitching slightly, cries of agony escaping from his open mouth.  
  
"Who's next?" The sneer forming once more on her face, she levitated herself to sit atop the wooden crates. Looking down on the terrified faces far below her, a laugh escaped from somewhere within her. "Hahahahahaha! Just look at your faces now! You scared or something?" Her mocking tone of voice was definitely laced thick with her usual sarcasm.  
  
"I think not," Golden Ear redrew the pistol from his dirtied pants and pulled the trigger at Sashima.  
  
BAM!  
  
The crack of the gunshot ran through the room, the echo reverberating off the walls and piercing the stillness that came before it. He looked atop the crates, expecting for the bloodied and dead body of the woman, yet his wavering smile at once froze into a look of utter terror.  
  
"You done with your games yet?"   
  
The sheet of metal hovered several inches from the tip of her nose, dangling as if from a string in midair. Rotating slowly, it drifted slowly, higher and higher above their heads, finally bursting through the rotten roof, the hole revealing the pleasant summer skies.  
  
"Quick, everyone! Get out your guns and kill her!"  
  
The mad scramble and rummaging for the weapons only cracked the sneer on Sashima's face even wider. 'They will never learn, will they? Such fools…'  
  
As rounds and rounds of shots were fired simultaneously towards her still figure, she noticed that they seemed to be backing away, farther and farther away from her. Their hands shook with the forces of their guns, sweat pouring from their drenched faces, eyes expanding till the cornea were entirely visible.   
  
When the last bullet had been fired senseless, the woman stood, unharmed, and stared coolly down at the men, who cowered in fear. From her feet lay the pile of smoldering bullets, and gingerly she picked up a few, letting them run through her bare hands. In the distance, the sounds of police sirens were present. She had to get out of there before the police came.  
  
"You fools have no sense besides trying to use your guns on me, don't you?" she began, wrinkling her nose in utter disgust. "No bullet can harm me when I'm in this condition, and all you've done is waste a bunch of ammunition. Tsk tsk. Such fools indeed…"  
  
Golden Ear managed to clear his throat, and hesitantly he spoke. "Just…just WHAT are you?"  
  
"What I am is none of your concern. For what your previous members had done to my sister, I should just kill all you right now!"  
  
"No! Please! Please spare our lives!" Unexpectedly he broke down onto his knees and pleaded with her. "Please! I don't want to die right now! I didn't do anything--"  
  
"A load of crap," Sashima spat out hotly, "you had your men attack me and tried to kill me! I have spent years trying to find out what had ever happened to my sister--to find out her gristly death! When she tried to protect me those two hundred years ago, she sacrificed her own will for mine. You and your people raped her, using her only for your own pleasures, but in the end she sought revenge. Revenge came with a price--she herself was killed by your ancestor! For those sins and the deaths for hundreds of innocent lives, I will make sure that you will never escape unpunished!"  
  
The sounds of sirens were near now. Presently the screech of brakes were heard, the slamming of the car doors. A pounding on the dense warehouse door made the remaining men jump.  
  
"Police! Open up!" A voice shouted from the outside. "Come out slowly with your hands up!"  
  
"Guess I'll leave the police to deal with you, Golden Ear," said Sashima, surveying the area. More than half the men had been injured, lolling on the ground, slowly recovering from their injuries. The rest were standing, though frightened, yet unarmed. "I'll just make it easy for the police then."  
  
She extended a finger out from her body, the energy radiating from her center point. Concentrating, the remaining men hovered slowly from the ground, their feet pawing desperately to remain on solid ground. With a wave of her hand, she brought them down into a heap on the floor, one on top of each other. Pushing the remainder of the men onto the pile as well, she looked around for anything suitable with which to contain them. Finally spotting the nets suspended from the roof beams, she disentangled them from their hangings and secured them over the men, who by now were shaking terribly.  
  
"Consider yourselves lucky that I will not kill you yet. I'll leave it up to the jury, and if they don't find you guilty, then I will personally see to it that they will!"  
  
With that, she disappeared from the warehouse. The front door collapsed with the impact of the police officers, and they streamed in, guns drawn and ready. Puzzled as they were, the roundup of the gang branch took up several squad cars, and until the last car was out of sight, the area marked as a crime scene, did the figure fly off from her hidden perch among the tall pine trees.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The glimmer of the summer's afternoon sun reflected itself across the vast ocean as she flew on, farther and farther away from the glare of the city she had departed from. The rays of the sun reflected themselves over and over among the water's smooth, cerulean depths, dancing merrily as if humans were waltzing on a ballroom floor, the time of their lives at hand. Scattered with an array of boats and oceangoing vessels, no one seemed to notice the figure that flew silently below the clouds, among the cawing of the seagulls to one another. The ocean spray smelled strongly of the seaweed and salt that it undoubtedly contained, their scent wafting up from the depths. Shadows of the creatures that lurked beneath this calm surface were, in no doubt, hidden, waiting for the precise moments to reveal themselves.  
  
Various islands blurred by as she flew faster and faster, increasing her speed with every passing minute. She just had to get away, away from what had happened, what she had finally found out, about what had happened ten years before. The thought of such brutality…of such evilness…she was not able to take anymore of it. Ever since she had been orphaned, her sister was the one who had cared for her, who had comforted her, who had been there for her. When she was gone, the orphanage was her new home, and no longer were the streets of Harakatsuma where she roamed. She was shunned, ignored, and teased because of her quiet matters, seemingly withdrawn from everyone else.  
  
She had already started high school when she was fifteen, and still she lacked the friends and people whom she desperately needed. Saddened, a look of depression among her face, there was not a single person who would come near her, and by no means was she a terrible student, she felt no desire to pursue education.   
  
The memories flooded back to her as she remembered her sophomore year, when she had turned sixteen. That year, she had found out exactly who she was--and her path in that life. Then, all around her, a new light seemed to have shone, illuminated the bright spots in her shrouded darkness. Realizing how she had wasted her last four years of life, she had vowed to change her ways. Besides the power within her that she had been given, she quickly mastered the martial arts, making her steps all the more lethal.  
  
*cough* *cough*  
  
Something was wrong, she could just sense it. It was in the way which her coughs racked her body.  
  
"Damn dimension, damn side-effects…" she cursed angrily. She would have to land and take a quick rest before continuing on. Spotting a minute island down below her, she halted in flight and slowly hovered down to it. It was nothing more than a jutting cliff, amid a few palm trees and pure white sand. Besides the seagulls and cormorants on the beach, the island seemed deserted.  
  
The cliff top was barren when she arrived from the slight climb. Lying down on her back, she stared up at the white clouds that dotted the blue of the sky. She dared not look too closely to the sun, though. The redness of her eyes were not suited for even slight harshness with the rays.  
  
'You know, Sashima…' a voice in her head began, calling out to her.  
  
"Yes?" she spoke aloud, scowling.  
  
'You shouldn't feel so bad about your sister…'  
  
"And why not? She was the only person who cared for me about Mom and Dad died, so why not?"  
  
'She's not even your own sister you know--'  
  
"Shut up, you! She is my biological sister, we were both born from Mother--"  
  
'Mother? Is she even your real mother? Sashima, get a grip on yourself! If you consider her your mother, then would she not be about the 16th one?!'  
  
"I don't care what you say! She was my mother and my sister was my sister, that's all that matters!"  
  
'I say you are going crazy Sashima. You don't even know who you are.'  
  
"The hell I know who I am and what I am!"  
  
'Okay…then what are you?'  
  
"I…I…"  
  
'See.'  
  
At this she broke down into tears, the sobs echoing across the sea. Even the seagulls and the cormorants seemed to feel sorry for her.  
  
* * * * *  
  
By the time she at last opened her wearied eyes, the sun was at the horizon. Waves of orange and red amongst the blue mirrored themselves on the water, and by this time, the birds had gone from the island. Shadows lurked from behind the shapes and masses, a slight breeze bringing a chill to her bones, though the dusk was plenty warm.  
  
"I must've fell asleep," she grumbled as she got up, brushing the dirt from her sweats. She glanced to the west, where she was sure Satan City was. "I better be getting back--Bulma is going to wonder where I am."  
  
Her course to the west, the setting sun in her way. She scowled, reaching into her pocket for the sunglasses she had stashed earlier. 'Boy I can't wait for the sun to go down…'  
  
Taking flight once more, she slipped the darkened glasses over her eyes and set off. The wind whipped her hair out from behind her, flapping in the breeze like blood-dyed waves. Slowly, her mind came upon the events of the day once more.  
  
'You finally awake?'  
  
"Yes, what do you want?"  
  
'Nothing, just wanted to see how you're coping.'  
  
"I'm doing fine, thank you very much."  
  
'So…you still feeling sad about your sister?'  
  
"How can I not?! Just quit mentioning it! I just want to forget about it…"  
  
'Fine sure whatever you say, but…'  
  
"Besides, I got my revenge, they are going to get punished, my sister is already dead, everyone in my family is dead, so what does it matter?"  
  
'Temporary family you have to live with for this life anyways.'  
  
"I don't want to think about it."  
  
'Oh yes you do…'  
  
"SHUT UP!"  
  
'NO!'  
  
"YES!"  
  
'NO!'  
  
"YES!!!"  
  
Tears glistened in her eyes, falling slowly once again. Reaching a hand up to wipe them clean, the glasses were knocked from her face, falling…falling…falling…straight into the ocean with a quiet splash, sinking beneath the waves.  
  
"Damnit…now I'll have to use up more of my energy to form a sun barrier…never mind, I'll just teleport back to Capsule Corp." Sashima winced--it would take a lot of energy considering the distance she needed to travel. "Um…where…which way is west again?"  
  
Suddenly, her eyes met with the setting sun, directly to the west. The enormous ball of red had submerged halfway below the darkening horizon, yet a searing pain still shot through her over-sensitive eyes as she locked them with the sun. Her brain was obviously getting fried, though her eyes would not take themselves away from the spectacle. Something in her snapped, and the next thing she knew, she was plunging as her sunglasses had--toward the waters of the dark blue ocean and what lay beneath them…  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Guh I'm tired outta my wits, and now I get to start on homework! Yay. Not. Semester is coming up and I have got to clinch that 4.0 grade. Yeah I know this chapter was confusing with the thoughts and all. Whatever, need to do a bioethics project. Wish me luck. ^^ 


	12. Kame House

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 12 - Kame House  
  
  
  
The sun's last magnificent rays cast the shadows of the trees onto the pale sand, long and thin, into amorphous shapes. It had been a warm day, and Krillin had spent most of it running errands for Muten Roshi, traveling to and from Satan City and the Kame House many times.  
  
After a hard day's worth of traveling, he spent the moment on a beach chair, catching the last rays of the sun and looking up into the slowly darkening sky. Ever since he had been killed by Freeza and brought back to life with the dragonballs, he had spent many days like this, pondering the mysteries of life.  
  
He sighed, rubbing the sweat off his bald head with a towel. "It's good to be alive…"  
  
All of a sudden he sensed something. An unfamiliar ki--abnormally high to be a human, yet too weak to be of any threat. His senses on alert, he searched the horizon and the orange-red skies above it.  
  
"What is it Krillin?" inquired Umigame, the aged sea turtle. "Do you sense something out there?"  
  
He nodded, reaching a hand to shade his eyes from the sun. "Uh-huh…and it seems to be getting closer, too. Do you see anything out there Umigame?"  
  
The turtle raised its own neck and looked out across the softly lapping waves. "No, I don't…"  
  
"I just can't see much in this--hey! There it is!" Krillin pointed a finger out at a dark speck in the dusk's sky, which grew steadily bigger. "It seems to be a human…but it's…it's…flying? I thought we were the only ones on Earth who could fly, Umigame!"  
  
"Well I suppose you're wrong then," said the turtle, ambling towards the open sea for a better view. "Do you suppose this is a threat?"  
  
"Unless they are hiding their ki, no I don't think so…but I think I should better go in for a closer look," Krillin replied, laying down the towel and taking flight into the air, the rays of the sun reflecting off his head. He turned in midair and faced the figure in the distance. However, at that moment, it had stopped in flight.  
  
"I wonder what they are doing…" he muttered to himself, flying forward for a closer look, yet making sure to be cautious all the same. The figure had its back towards him, yet from the hair and figure, Krillin was almost positive the person was a woman.  
  
He stopped when he was about forty feet away from the figure, debating whether he should call out to her. Suddenly, an object dropped from the figure and plunged into the ocean; seconds later, she had glanced at the sun.  
  
'Why is she looking at the sun?' Krillin asked himself, but more thoughts were cut from him as unexpectedly, she began dropping headlong towards the water, gathering speed from the heights she had been hovering at.   
  
"Wha?! Oh no!" Krillin shouted, racing after her at top speeds. With a tremendous splash, she hit the water and disappeared beneath the surface. Without a moment's hesitation Krillin dove in after her.  
  
Beneath the water's surface, it was like another world. The rays of the sun didn't even graze this underwater world, where the darkness lurked, sea creatures hidden on the ocean floor's rocky bottom. Schools of fish swam by in colorful variants, adding brightness to the dim world. The figure was sinking, deeper and deeper towards the bottom as Krillin kicked the water from behind him and reached it, just before it was engulfed in darkness. Gripping her tightly in his arms, he dragged the heavy weight up to the surface, breaking it and gasping for air.  
  
Gulping mouthfuls of air, Krillin glanced down at the figure in his arms, a woman in her early twenties, her crimson hair plastered around her wet face. "Sure haven't seen her around…" he mused, as she spluttered and coughed up a mouthful of salt water. Stirring, she still did not open her eyes as Krillin made his way back to the Kame House.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Hey Muten Roshi!" Krillin yelled as his feet at last touched the warm sand on Muten Roshi's island. "Come out here for a second, will you?"  
  
There was a shuffling of feet and moments later, the door to the house was flung open, Muten Roshi at the threshold, dressed in casual t-shirt and shorts, his white beard combed fine. "What s'matter? What's going on Krillin?"  
  
"This girl fell in the ocean and she was flying--" he began, pulling her into view.  
  
"Whoa! Krillin, what a hottie you got there!" Muten Roshi exclaimed, eyes popping out from his head and his mouth dropping open, the clear drool visible. Rushing down the front steps, he raced across the beach and appeared before the girl, grasping her hand and feeling the smooth skin underneath his fingertips. He coughed, then regained composure. "She doesn't look too well, does she?"  
  
"Obviously not…" Krillin glanced down at the pale figure in his arms. She seemed vaguely conscious, yet her eyes were not yet open.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for? Bring her inside and get her dry!" The old master turned and walked back to the Kame House, Krillin in his wake, Sashima still in his arms.  
  
"Where should I put her?" he asked, once they were in the living room. He looked around. There wasn't much space in the room, and most of the floor had been littered with Muten Roshi's dirty magazines. The couch seemed to be the only decent spot, and he carefully laid her down on it.  
  
"Oolong! Could you get me a couple of towels?" Krillin hollered, looking around for the pig that lived with them.  
  
"What for?" Oolong came out of the kitchen, a sandwich in his mouth. "Can't you see I'm a little busy here?"  
  
"For her," Krillin pointed to the figure awkwardly, "she fell into the ocean, so could you go--" In a flash, Oolong was gone, a blur of color in the direction of the bathroom. "Geez…what was that about?" Krillin wondered as he laid a hand to the back of his head.  
  
"Here!" Oolong had returned, fresh white towels draped around him. "You can go now Krillin…I can wipe her dry…" The grin on his face made Krillin sweat drop.  
  
"Uh…I don't think that's such a good idea…" he replied, snatching the towels from Oolong.  
  
"Of course it's not," Muten Roshi had arrived, and he in turn swiped the towels from the clutches of Krillin, "because I will be the one to dry her!"  
  
"What gives you the right to even TOUCH her old man?!" Oolong demanded, grabbing a hold on a towel and pulling with all his might.  
  
"What gives you the right as well?!"  
  
"You wait when she wakes up and finds that a dirty man like you has laid hands on her!"  
  
"Anyone would be better than a perverted piece of pork like you!"  
  
"Who are you calling a perverted piece of pork?!"  
  
"YOU! THAT'S WHO!"  
  
"Hey…hey…calm down you guys…" Krillin chuckled nervously, pulling the two away from one another.  
  
"Ugh…damn sun…damn dimension…"  
  
"Huh?" Krillin, Muten Roshi, and Oolong ceased their bickering and turned to give their attention to the woman on the couch, who by now, was awake and relatively normal.  
  
"Ugh," she groaned again, then for the first time seemed to notice that she was being watched. "Hey…where am I?" she wondered, staring around the room and taking in the scene.  
  
"You're at the Kame House," Krillin spoke up, "you fell into the ocean…" He looked more closely at her face. 'Red eyes?? That's an abnormal eye color…'  
  
"Oh yeah, I did. Heh, last thing I remembered was looking at the sun and then losing it. Thanks for saving me. By the way, what's your name?" Curiously she looked at the three before her.  
  
"Ah…let me introduce myself!" Muten Roshi elbowed Krillin and Oolong off to the side, then sweep down to a formal bow. "I am Muten Roshi, and it was me who rescued you from the ocean depths--"  
  
"Don't be a fool!" Oolong interjected, stepping in front of Muten Roshi, "he can hardly swim anymore! My name is Oolong and it was me who risked my life and braved the sharks in the water--"  
  
"Uh…okay…" Sashima raised an eyebrow, wondering if the kinds of people she had met today would get even stranger.  
  
"Don't mind them," Krillin said, grinning broadly, "they are always like that."  
  
"Oh sure," she replied, "…and you are?"  
  
He blushed slightly--having a woman inquire his name was not a usual thing. "Uh…Krillin…my name is Krillin!"  
  
"Nice to meet all of you--I'm Sashima," the red-haired woman replied, getting up and stepping on one of the scattered magazines. "Oh sorry! Here--" she picked one up from the floor, yet quickly tossed it back down as if it were a dead rat, sitting back down on the couch.  
  
Krillin winced, turned scarlet once more. "Uh…I'm sorry for the mess this house is in…I try and keep Muten Roshi and Oolong from reading too…much of that stuff…"  
  
"Er…I see…" she paused, glancing out the window at the setting sun, yet quickly withdrew her gaze from it, rubbing her temples in annoyance.  
  
"What's wrong?" Krillin asked, noticing her quick reaction to the sun's rays.  
  
"Oh nothing…not much…" she replied, running a hand through wet hair, "I just don't like looking at the sun, that's all. Red eyes don't go too well with the brightness of something like the sun, you know?"  
  
Krillin was amazed at her comment. 'Is she some cat-person or something?' He kept these thoughts inside though, and made with another comment of his own. "Of course! The way cats--er--I mean! Red eyes are…absolutely not good with the sun! Especially without sunglasses and such!"  
  
Sashima nodded. "I did have sunglasses, but I accidentally dropped them when I was flying--"  
  
"Eh?" By now Oolong and Muten Roshi had stopped their quarreling, hanging on to every word spoken between Krillin and Sashima. "You can fly??" gasped Oolong.  
  
"Uh…yeah…" Silently she cursed herself. These people who she had just met weren't supposed to know that about her, and the bald dude had probably even seen her fall from the air as well!  
  
"Now that you mention it," Muten Roshi stroked his beard, "your ki IS relatively high for a human's…" He peered at her intently for a few seconds through his sunglasses and paced slowly the perimeter around the couch.  
  
She scratched her head in pretended confusion. "Ki? What is ki?"  
  
"Er…ki is your inner energy, like your life force," supplied Krillin, "and this may be a bit rude, but do you know how to raise your ki?"  
  
Sashima had no idea what in the world they were trying to pull at her, yet she could see no harm in summoning up a tiny bit of power, especially when the fact that she could fly was already in the light. She needed to dry off anyway.  
  
"Okay…I'll raise up my "ki" or whatever you're talking about…but only because I need to get dry and nothing else, okay?" Closing her eyes, she started to draw the energy from within the center of her, feeling the warmth radiate through her body, to the tips of her fingertips and the soles of her feet. When all at last she was dry, she cut off the extra flow of energy and restored it to its rightful place within her.  
  
Opening her eyes, she nearly fell off the couch at the wide-eyed stares which Oolong, Muten Roshi, and Krillin penetrated her with. "Hey? Are you three alright?"  
  
At once they seemed to snap out of their stupor, Krillin opening his mouth as if to say something, then closing it back again. Muten Roshi finally spoke up.  
  
"You know, Sashima…your ki is extremely high for an average human's, yet…is that all the energy you have?"  
  
Deliberately she decided to forge a lie. "Yes, that's about how much energy I have--why? Is that abnormal or something?" Inwardly, she already knew the answer to the question, but the fact needed not be told.  
  
Neither Muten Roshi nor Krillin seemed to buy into her answer. "So if you have a ki like that," Krillin began, "why did you fall out of the sky all of a sudden? You weren't injured, were you?"  
  
"Oh no, nothing like that. Just that looking at the sun gives me headaches and all…it wasn't as bad from where I came from, but I still needed the sunglasses some of the time." The woman got up and made her way to the open door, peering out at the open sea and the growing darkness around. The sun had set by now, last spokes from its ball of fire across the ocean waters. It was a magnificent scene, the beauty of it all striking a chord somewhere within her.  
  
"It's getting real late--"  
  
Seizing the opportunity, Muten Roshi blurted out, "Would you like to stay with us? We have enough rooms to accommodate you!"  
  
Sashima sweat dropped, feeling a tad sick to her stomach. Politely she declined, "Thank you very much Muten Roshi, and thank you all for saving me, but I better be getting back to Capsule Corporation before it gets too dark and I lose my way."  
  
"Capsule Corp.?" Krillin echoed, "You're staying there with Bulma?"  
  
"Yeah, you know her?"  
  
"Bulma is a good friend of ours, as a matter of fact. Say 'hi' to her for us, will ya?" said Krillin.  
  
"Sure thing! Oh and um…which way is Satan City?" Sheepishly she chuckled, putting her hand to the back of her head.  
  
"Satan City is that way--" Stepping outside, Krillin directed her in a westerly direction, where the last tinges of orange and red loomed. "Oh and do you need to borrow some sunglasses or anything?"  
  
"Nope, but thanks anyways," said Sashima, levitating into the air. "Well…good-bye!"  
  
The figures in front of the Kame House blinked. When they opened their eyes, she was gone.  
  
"Whoa, how'd she fly off so fast?!" cried Oolong, scanning the horizon for her shadow.  
  
"Muten Roshi, did you sense something strange about this Sashima person?" Krillin asked his old teacher, turning to face him in the gathering darkness.  
  
His face was serious as the aged master looked across the sea. For a moment he did not speak, yet when he did, the words carried much effect.  
  
"Krillin, when you asked her if she knew what ki was, she said she didn't know. But from the look in her eyes, she obviously knew; she was holding back a lot of energy as well. And Krillin, do you sense her ki right now?"  
  
His pupil paused, then slowly nodded. "It's out there, but it's extremely far away, like in Satan City almost. I just don't see how she could've flown all the way back to the mainland that quickly without us seeing …it's like she just used an Instantaneous Movement technique like the one Goku uses…"  
  
"She may not need to learn that technique to use it."  
  
"Huh?" Krillin was baffled. "What do you mean?"  
  
"There was a slight difference in her ki than that of you or I. I suspect she is not human."  
  
* * * * *  
  
She arrived in front of the metal gates that flanked the entrance to Capsule Corporation in record time--she hadn't bothered to fly to risk catching anymore of the sun's rays. By the time she had returned, it was completely dark, the street lamps casting a ghostlike aura on the objects that stood nearby. She shuddered, remembering all too well of her sister.  
  
Pressing the button at the gate, she waited until she heard Bulma's voice, "Who is it?"  
  
"It's me, Sashima," the younger woman replied back, and presently a tiny screen above the speaker clicked on, revealing an image of Bulma. "Oh hey! You're back--hang on, let me open the doors for you…"  
  
She stepped back as the wrought-iron gates swung open, and as she stepped through, them closing behind her. In the brightness on the vicinity of Capsule Corp., the darkness no longer seemed to be as forbidding as she made her way to the front steps of Bulma Briefs' house, where Bulma stood waiting at the front door.  
  
"Wow you sure got back late--I was wondering if you got lost or something!" Bulma exclaimed as she ushered Sashima inside, shutting the door behind her. "I er…found some bags on your bed…were all those things yours?"  
  
She laughed and made her way to the kitchen. "Heh, sorry about that; I ran into a little trouble today and didn't want to carry all the stuff around." Opening up the fridge, she took out some cold chicken and some leftover stew, ladling some into a bowl. "You don't mind if I eat this right?" she asked quickly, glancing up, a little embarrassed.  
  
"Oh no, eat whatever you can find--there's enough food here for many more people! Hey, I'm going to go watch the news okay?" Bulma called from the doorway, and left abruptly, leaving Sashima at the kitchen table with her dinner.  
  
Plopping down on the leather couch, Bulma could not help wondering what Sashima had been up to that day. 'The shopping bags ended up in her room…and supposedly she was in Downtown. How does that work? If she can teleport herself and other objects, what else can she do??' Flipping on the t.v., the first story she saw was the evening's top story.  
  
"…and police are still at this moment questioning the suspects of the notorious gang which has unexpectedly been rounded up today. Witnesses say that at about 1:00 P.M. this afternoon, a barrel of gunshots were heard in a warehouse down by the abandoned part of the waterfront. When police arrived there, they were met with a shocking scene--about twenty men entangled in a net on a gigantic heap on the floor. These men are suspected to be part of a larger organization involved with much of Satan City's violence and drug dealings. We now go to Oki Tsukawa at the Satan City Jail, where these dangerous men are being held at the moment. Oki, what can you tell us?"  
  
[The camera switches to a woman in front of the jail] "Well Rotsue, I'm here live at the city jail, and police have informed me that they have finished their questioning on the apparent gang leader, who is nicknamed 'Golden Ear.' Evidently, he seems to be in some kind of shock, and the jail psychiatrist is doing on evaluation on him at the moment. All afternoon he has been mentioning of a woman who has been able to quote 'hover in midair, disappear, and escape unharmed from bullets.' His description of her is that she is in her early twenties, with crimson hair and equally crimson eyes. Police say she is not a suspect in this case, yet they would like her to be found and brought in for questioning. If you have any information, you are urged to call the Satan City Police Department…"  
  
Bulma was stunned. "Unharmed by the bullets?" the words tumbled from her mouth, "just who IS Sashima?"  
  
"You really want to know?"  
  
Bulma leaped from her seat; Sashima was in the doorway to the living room, and she made her way over to Bulma, who recoiled slightly. Taking a seat and staring absently at the t.v., she at last raised her voice to speak.  
  
"You can sit down, Bulma. If you really want to know, I'll tell you."  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Finals are over! And I think I did well on most of them…with the exception of math, I bet. *cough* I just HAD to be stupid and study my ass off and I still didn't get that 95%! Actually I was nowhere even near 90%, 82.6% was more like it. Slight ray of hope in the distance…ugh. Anyways, I'm looking to about a chapter every half a week to a week…though that may change a bit. And I'm taking a web design class and now I figured out how to upload things onto fanfiction.net in html, good for me. Oh and please visit my website at: http://www.boomspeed.com/ladysamurai if you haven't done so yet. Thank you. 


	13. Confessions

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 13 - Confessions  
  
  
  
Bulma took a seat, a hint of apprehension on her usually calm face. Reaching for the remote, she clicked the t.v. off, plunging both of them into silence. Sashima sat directly opposite her, still as a stone while the grandfather clock in the room chimed seven o'clock.  
  
Bulma was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. "The person they were talking about on the news tonight…that was you, wasn't it?"  
  
She sighed, getting up from her spot on the couch and headed to the patio doors, where she stood, gazing out at the darkness. "Of course the person was me. Who else has red hair and red eyes, in her twenties that you know of?" she suddenly snapped.  
  
Slightly taken aback, Bulma rose to her feet as well, getting defensive. "Apparently not many, though the number of those people who would use that power is even less!"  
  
Sashima turned to face her, expression unchanged, yet the voice had on a less harsh quality. "I'm sorry Bulma--I didn't mean to snap at you like that, but…I don't know…there's just another person inside of me it seems…"  
  
"Huh? Another person? What do you mean?" asked Bulma, sitting down once again and motioning for Sashima to do the same.  
  
"I guess I should start from the beginning," she hesitated, her voice hardly above a whisper.  
  
Patiently, Bulma sat, waiting.  
  
"I am not human."  
  
Silence.  
  
"You're…you're…not?" Bulma finally spoke, Sashima's words sinking in rapidly.  
  
"No I'm not. A thousand years ago an angel was banished from Heaven for being careless and losing a sacred lamp. She was sent down to Earth for some time as her punishment, and during that time she met with a demon. She fell in love with the demon, thus ensuring her fate, and soon a child was born to them, half-angel, half-demon. That child was me. The angel was my true mother; the demon, my father."  
  
'There--I said it,' the thought echoed over and over again. 'I told Bulma what I am, now she knows…' Hanging her head and burying her face in her hands, she waited for Bulma's next words.  
  
For about a period of five minutes, neither spoke. The tick-tock of the clock, the soft hum of traffic outside the Capsule Corporation grounds, the hesitant shuffling of Bulma's feet seemed all the more accentuated in the stillness.  
  
"What happened to…your parents?" Bulma held her breath, anxiously awaiting the answer.  
  
"The gods eventually found out, and so did the demon kings. The intimate contact of an angel and a demon was forbidden, and war was waged on both sides. They fought for hundreds of years, but eventually the angels won, and my angel mother and demon father were slain. After the hundreds of years, I had grown up by then, and as punishment, my soul would be trapped in a human's for all eternity, unless the gods deem so otherwise."  
  
Bulma could not believe her own ears at what this…this…woman…was telling her. Angels? Did they really exist? She had believed in them when she was young, yet that belief had worn itself down over the years. And demons? Were they prowling about somewhere in the world? And Sashima herself--if what she said were true, she would be hundreds of years old. With the combined power of an angel and one of a demon, plus her own strength…  
  
She shuddered at the mere thought. A sideways glance at Sashima revealed that she, too, was gazing intently on Bulma, waiting for another word.  
  
"If your soul was trapped in a human's hundreds of years ago," Bulma began, carefully choosing the words, "would not the human have died?"  
  
Sashima bit her lip, bitterness on her face. "You're right. I would be born into a human, live a human life with an angelic-demon soul. Somewhere along every life I would find out what I was. Even though I was technically a human and in a human body, I would still have my powers, just as if I was not in a human body--they would be at the same strength, nothing different. Living a human life, I was born over and over again, and died at the right moments. I have been born and died sixteen different times."  
  
"How…how do you remember all this? Do you remember any of your past lives?" Moving closer to the woman, Bulma no longer felt any more fear, but a kind of dull sadness and pity.  
  
Scoffing, she threw back her fire-colored hair and laughed, almost hysterically for several seconds. At last calm, her face was solemn. "No, I never remember any of these things. It was when I was sixteen I had an unusual dream. In the dream, a high angel spoke to me. She told me that I was born as an angel-demon, and relayed the past to me. Once I die in this life, I would not remember a thing until I would be born again and the cycle would continue unless the gods break it, she told me. When I woke up the next morning, I knew it had been a dream, but I couldn't help but want to believe it. I pointed a finger at the vase on my table and told it to move. It did, and it shocked me so much. I tried so many things that day…and I was finally convinced. From that day on, it was like I was another person--more confident, more sure of myself. My captain back at the police station, David, knew about all this…he wanted me to stay because I had the power to keep the people of the city in check."  
  
"But with your powers, you can do many things, right?" asked Bulma, images of the world getting destroyed in her mind's eye. Quickly, she banished them.  
  
"A lot of things, yes, but I'm only a small angel-demon for Heaven's sake--I can never go against the other angels or demons," she heaved a sigh, suddenly hovering up from the couch, causing Bulma to leap back a few feet.  
  
"You know the news was talking about you today," Bulma stated, arms across her chest.  
  
"I saw it, didn't I?" she said, hovering in midair, legs crossed in the lotus position.  
  
"Well…what happened to those gang members?" asked Bulma, curiosity taking the best of her.  
  
Sashima snorted, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Some members of their gang killed my sister some two hundred years ago."  
  
Bulma gasped. "You finally found out what happened to her?"  
  
"Yes, I did. Shot twenty times because she killed a bunch of their gang members. The gang been hunting down descendents of the bloodline and found me while I was shopping. For a moment, I wanted to murder them, but then the police came and I decided not to. But for some reason, it seems as if I didn't feel any sadness even though I had finally found out what had happened to my sister. If you can even call her my sister…"  
  
"What do you mean you didn't feel any sadness? Did you not care?" inquired Bulma. She could not believe anyone who would not feel the least bit dismayed over his or her own sibling.  
  
"It was like another voice in my head was arguing me not to feel anything, to deny my current family, and all that…it's really confusing and I don't know what it is, but I'm sure there's another person inside of me, but it's not…it's me as well…just another side of me. I don't know, maybe that's the demon side of me and this is the angel side? I'm so confused over what is what now…" Floating steadily higher, she took a seat on the railings surrounding the second floor, leaning precariously forward.  
  
"That may be it Sashima--your demon side is struggling to get out," replied Bulma, searching for appropriate comments. "By the way, I hate to ask so many questions, but do angels and demons have wings?"  
  
"They are supposed to. But I'm in a human body, remember?" She sighed. "I'm going to bed now. I'll talk to you later Bulma." With that, she slid off the railing and walked along the hallway, rounding the corner to her room and disappearing out of sight.  
  
Bulma was left standing in the center of the living room, mouth slightly open. For a couple of minutes she stood, motionless, the thoughts swirling through her brain like a thick stew poised to boil over.  
  
After awhile, Bulma too went up to bed, shutting her door tightly closed behind her. Much tossing and turning gone by, eventually a heavy sleep overcame her.  
  
She did not hear the alarms at midnight.  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Never expected this, did you? Hehe, shortest chapter ever. From now on, I'll try for less in each chapter--make it a little less wordy or something… 


	14. An Angel's Message

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.  
  
  
Chapter 14 - An Angel's Message  
  
  
  
It was her again.  
  
In the distance. For the second time she could remember since she had first appeared in Sashima's dream eight years ago.  
  
"Why are you here?" Sashima hesitantly asked, daring to venture with the slightly offending question. She did not want to sound arrogant, as the events of the previous day had been enough cause for the respect of this angel.  
  
The high angel's pure-crystalline wings fluttered in an invisible breeze, her dawn like gown radiating a high sense of power about its wearer, who stood in utter nothingness. She opened her eyes and stared directly at the red-haired woman, the silence descending before them prior to her speaking.  
  
"Sashima, do you remember how you survived that fire yesterday--the one which devoured the whole of Capsule Corporation Hospital." Her voiced echoed in the nothingness, a quality beautiful, yet obscure all the same.  
  
"You told me that already, I remembered, that same night, and I knew it too. Was it not that I was already dead, but the gods had wanted me to live as a mortal human for an even longer amount of time?" She could hardly keep the scorn out of her voice as she faced the high angel, even though she knew fairly well its power would exceed hers greatly.  
  
"No need for bitterness," it replied, the same hollowness in her voice. "It is extremely true that the gods had wanted you alive for at least a bit more time."  
  
But Sashima neither listened, nor understood. "Why? Why do I live this life as a human? Can I not return to the heavens and live in peace?"  
  
"I'm sorry, but that is not possible at the moment. The fact that you are a cross between us angels and our enemy, the demons, arises many complications. Unless you have proven yourself pure, you have no right to be in the heavens."  
  
"Pure? How can I accomplish that? I now live in the human world, as a mortal, and as the rule goes, no mortal is pure enough to ascend to our level!"  
  
"I see…the demon is still within you, Sashima. I've said it before, I'll say it again. There is no way you will be able to get into Heaven with the demon within you. I was watching you earlier. You saw how the demon was, how it impaired your judgment. When you were on that island, what did you feel? Remorse? Sorrow? Bitterness? Or nothing at all?" There was an almost sadness to her voice, as if she had felt pity at her own words, Sashima thought. But no, that couldn't be…  
  
"I don't know how I felt…" she replied, trying to sound as honest as possible. "I felt sorrow at the death of my sister, but there was another voice in my head…then after that, I lost it. I don't know how I feel now, but it seems…my sister doesn't matter right now. Nothing about her seems to matter now…I don't know why…"  
  
"Ah…so that is how it is…" the angel mused, pursing her lips slightly. "I was afraid of that. You threatened to kill today, did you not?"  
  
Sashima heaved a deep breath and sighed, hanging her hair in shame. "Yes, it is true…I'm sorry. I've done it before…to others, I mean. It's just…that uncontrollable drive to kill, whenever I think it is necessary. If it wasn't for the police arriving, I would have exterminated every single one of them right then and there."  
  
"I am not surprised, Sashima. This was expected of you, as the angel and demon blood inside of you would continue to battle it all out. I must warn you, at times your nature could be severely impaired by this, and you may feel completely out of hand, as like today. There is no way to control this." Steadily, the celestial being rose from the nothingness and began ascending, calling out her last words.  
  
"Remember what I said, Sashima, and always be careful of yourself." With that, she began to fade into the blinding whiteness.  
  
"Wait! Why am I in this dimension?!" shouted Sashima from the ground below, but it was too late; the angel had already floated too high to be seen. "Wait!" On impulse, she took flight, only to feel a force so great that it tossed her right back to the ground, and she felt herself falling, swirling, deeper and deeper…  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
She jerked bolt upright in the bed, the sheets scattered around in a tangled pile. Looking around, she spied the clock on the dresser, which read 11:53 P.M. Outside the open windows, the clear night's sky revealed an abundance of brightly lit stars, and even what she could almost distinguish as a planet among them as well.  
  
"Was all that a dream?" she mused, flopping back down onto the comfortable pillows and staring at the ceiling above her. "It was another message from the angel. I wonder why she never comes to just see me in real person…it certainly would be easy enough, and there's nothing to fear about me, right? I'm only a demi-angel, and they aren't as powerful as the high angels…so that's not possible…and what did she mean by the gods wanting me to live longer? The hell…I should've been dead by now! I would've been dead and my soul would be reborn as a baby once again and I would've lived another life as a human, so WHY?! Why in the world did the gods want me to live? Am I supposed to do something important in this wretched life??" Out of frustration, she slammed her right fist into the wall behind her, a crack branching out from the spot where hand and wall had connected.   
  
She sighed, turning to examine the wall. "I'll fix that tomorrow," she grumbled, and turned onto her side, attempting to fall back asleep once more.  
  
After a couple of minutes, Sashima laid under the covers, reflecting on her thoughts--she wasn't able to sleep. There was a faint ringing from the depths of her head, pounding it until it was almost unbearable.   
  
"I must've gone crazy; I'm hearing bells and alarms now." Scoffing, the covers were thrown off, only to be met by a high-pitched alarm.  
  
"What the hell is going--" she began, but never had the chance to finish.  
  
KERBLAM!  
  
"Something is definitely not right here!" Sprinting from the bed and hurriedly stepping into a pair of cotton slippers, Sashima swung the wooden door wide open and dashed into the corridor, clad only in pajama bottoms and a loose top. From the end of the hall, another door slammed open, the sound reverberating throughout the house, Vegeta standing in the doorway. Dressed only in drawstring pajama bottoms and his top half completely shirtless, he had on a look of utter annoyance and rage from being disturbed from a peaceful sleep.  
  
"What the fuck is going on here?!" he demanded, stalking over to Sashima and glaring straight at her, as if she was the cause of the problem. He stood a meager inch taller than she did.  
  
"Look, I don't have time to talk to you, but it looks like someone broke into this house--"  
  
"Who set off the burglar alarm?" a voice cried out from around the corner. A second later, Dr. Briefs and Mrs. Briefs appeared, looking highly distressed. "Er…you're Sashima?" Dr. Briefs inquired, examining her face through thick spectacles.  
  
"Yes," she replied hastily. "Dr. Briefs, right? Do you know what is going on here? Why did the alarm go off?"  
  
"The only possibility is that someone or something broke in, although that's virtually impossible, as we have the highest security in the region," answered Dr. Briefs, striding towards the stairs leading down to the first floor. "I'm going down to check it out." He had reached the first step when Mrs. Briefs grabbed a hold of his arm, and pulled him from going any farther.  
  
"Don't go! You don't know what might be down there!" Mrs. Briefs screeched, "You might get hurt!"  
  
"Let us go down there," Sashima spoke up. "Dr. Briefs, Mrs. Briefs, if you can wake up Bulma and get out of the house as quickly as possible. Vegeta, you're coming with me."  
  
"And why should I listen to you?" he scowled, crossing his muscular arms across his bare chest.  
  
"Because I don't think you'll like the alarm ringing the whole night!" With that, she reached the polished banister and vaulted agilely over it, landing silently on the floor of the dark living room twenty feet below. "Come on!" she hissed above to Vegeta, who reluctantly leaped over the railing, landing next to her.  
  
"Let's get this clear--I am not doing this for anyone's benefit--" Vegeta glared, as they made their way silently towards the source of the alarm, in the direction of the kitchen. "--this is merely--"  
  
"Just shut up, will you? I don't see why Bulma ever bothered to let you stay here in the first place when the least you can do is help her out a little when there's trouble!" Sashima shot back, slinking steadily forward.  
  
"Who are you to be talking to the Prince of Saiyans like that?! You are a mere human--"  
  
She gritted her teeth to force the anger from coming out along with her words. This Vegeta was certainly a pain in the ass, and it took the absolute amount of determination and will power for her to resist swinging a kick or throwing a punch at the filthy mouth he had.  
  
As they reached the darkened kitchen, both Vegeta and Sashima increased their senses of alert. At their positions pressed against either sides of the doorway, the alarm was deafening, almost piercing their sensitive eardrums. The woman motioned for Vegeta to come forward, and then she too, entered the kitchen, flipping the switch and throwing a blinding light on everything within sight.  
  
"Ugh," she muttered, moving an arm to shield her eyes. It wasn't too bright, but the suddenness of it wasn't at all exactly pleasant.   
  
"What? You can't see?" Vegeta smirked, making his way to the fridge and taking out some leftovers in preparedness to make himself a midnight snack.  
  
Glaring at him through reddened eyes, she reached the lever for the manual alarm and turned it off. An eerie silence descended over them, a much drastic comparison to the mayhem of the alarm a few seconds before.   
  
"Who said I couldn't see?" she retorted, marching over and snatching the bread from Vegeta's hand. "This is no time to be eating! There is someone in the house, can't you sense it?"  
  
He narrowed his eyes, frowning. "You can sense ki?" he growled, laying down the rest of the food and slamming the fridge until the hinges shook violently.  
  
It was Sashima's turn to frown. "I'm able to, but that's not important right now. Where is this person?!"  
  
"Apparently I sense a different ki in this house, but it's relatively weak--a human's ki."  
  
"I do too, but I can't pinpoint where it is! He must've heard us when we got downstairs or something, then ran upstairs or…" she froze, the words catching in her throat. If he was not downstairs and his ki was still able to be sensed…  
  
"What is it? Hurry up and finish talking!" Vegeta ordered.  
  
"I sense four kis upstairs."  
  
Vegeta tensed, turning his head sharply to the direction of which they came from. His scowl just moments before transformed into a darkened look.   
  
Their eyes met. They knew what was running through each other's mind, but before they had even made two steps forward--  
  
"Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!!!!"  
  
CRACK!  
  
Sashima paled. "Bulma…" she whispered, her mind suddenly imagining the worse.  
  
  
  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Nothing much to say here…just luckily, the chapters are a little shorter now. I should make an effort to proofread and edit more carefully as well. There's a chance that this story may exceed 30 chapters. 


	15. A Plot Revealed Part 1

She was upstairs in a flash, preparing herself for the worst. Vivid images of Bulma's bloodied bloody flooded her mind, and she shook it violently, trying her best to scatter the horrid images into the dust. The crack that had ensured after the scream had sounded faintly like a gunshot, its reverberations echoing back and forth.  
  
As she got closer to Bulma's room, she was relieved to hear her voice, though panicked as it sounded. The voices of Dr. Briefs and Mrs. Briefs were apparent as well, though the presence of a deeper, harsher, male voice alarmed her senses, and she cursed herself silently for being so naïve as to spend so much time on a teleport to the second floor instead of directly into the room and taking out the intruder with a simple-needed blow.  
  
She reached the wooden double-doors that secluded Bulma's room from the rest of the house. After a quick rattle of the door handles, it was determined that the doors were bolted firmly from the inside. Pushing against them roughly, they neither moved nor budged.  
  
"Damn!" Moving back a few paces, she charged headlong at the doors, aiming a kick straight for the middle…  
  
SLAM!  
  
The double doors flew open, crashing against the walls of the room. She hurried inside, leaping precariously over the broken shards of glass on the carpeted floor, trying her best to avoid cutting her feet, protected only by the thin slippers, open.  
  
"This is what probably made that noise…" she mumbled, noticing that a lamp lay several feet away, shattered to bits. "But where is everyone??"  
  
Suddenly, there was a thump from somewhere to her left. Springing around at the sound to prepare herself for an attack, so was met with nothing but the sliding closets. There was no other sound in the room, except the faint THUMP THUMP from inside of the compartments.  
  
And then she knew. Rushing over, she threw the closet doors wide open, revealing both Dr. and Mrs. Briefs bound and gagged on the closet floor, amid piles of clothes and magazines. "What happened here?" she exclaimed as she carefully lifted the elder Briefs from the miniscule room and out into the main bedroom, gently removing the gags and working on the ties which bound them.  
  
"Dr. Briefs, what happened in here? Where's Bulma?" Sashima removed the gag as Dr. Briefs gasped for breath. Suddenly his eyes lit wide open and Mrs. Briefs let out a scream. Shakily, he raised a finger and pointed at something over Sashima's shoulder.  
  
There was another ki behind her. Whirling around, she had only about enough time to glimpse a flurry of black before something slammed painfully into her gut, knocking her over backwards, her back hitting the floor with a loud thud.  
  
'Fuck, you should've been on your guard and now look what's happened!'  
  
She switched over to her alternate plan, at once teleporting off the floor. In the state of being between her desired place and from where she started, time seemed to freeze for several seconds as she debated where do stop. It was then that she surveyed the real scene in front of her. Dr. and Mrs. Briefs were still bound in the middle of the room while two masked men were emerging from the bathroom, each holding onto Bulma, one with a gun to her head. The third masked man was farther into the room, at the spot where he had struck Sashima down onto the floor.  
  
"Where did she go?" The man who had ambushed her snarled as he faced his companions, stalking over to them angrily.  
  
"Well, WE don't know. She was just there, wasn't she?" The man to Bulma's right tightening his grip on Bulma's arm, making her wince in pain. "What, can't take it?" he mocked, squeezing her arm even tighter.  
  
Her eyes widened, yet she couldn't cry out to the pain. They had gagged her as well, to prevent her from making any noise at all, and bound her ankles together to hinder any attempts of escape.  
  
"I don't know about you two, but something here doesn't seem right…that girl was on the floor a minute ago, then we blinked and she was gone! Doesn't it seem a bit odd that she could get away so quickly without us noticing a thing?" The man on the left spoke up.  
  
"What do you expect her to do? Become invisible or something?" The first man snorted, glancing at the three Briefs. "Why don't we just kill them all and take the documents and be done for?"  
  
"Sounds good to me," the two masked assailants replied, holding Bulma out in front of them and stepping a couple paces to the left. "Just don't shoot us pal," the shorter man on the left chuckled.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll make sure to make this a clean--AHH!!" He wobbled on his feet for a second, then fell facedown onto the carpeted floor.  
  
"What the hell?" The lean man to Bulma's right yelled in disbelief.  
  
All was silent. They looked around cautiously, wary of what might have been lurking in the shadows. Without warning, a leg shot out from nowhere and swiped the shorter man across the neck; he smashed into the wall with the single blow.  
  
"Don't move…I-I-I'm armed! I'll shoot her if you tried anything!" The last remaining man cowered, pressing the gun to Bulma's temples. "HAHAHAHA! You won't dare attack her while I have this!"  
  
"Won't dare attack huh?" From a corner, Sashima appeared back in view, thrusting out her hand, which glowed a cerulean blue. "And you say I don't dare attack…"  
  
"What's happening to me?? I can't move!" Frozen in his current position, the sweat dripped from his forehead in long currents, a waterfall at its most tremendous rage. Like the men earlier that day, Sashima noticed the obvious signs of fear, and she couldn't help feeling a bit smug about it.  
  
"Of course you can't move, you dumbass. Watch this." Clenching her fist ever so slightly, the man was overcome with a twist of pain.  
  
"Ahhhh!! Stop it!!"  
  
"Tell me what you're doing here first!" Sashima demanded, loosing the grip slightly.  
  
"No, I will never tell!"  
  
"Really? Let's just see how much you can take then…" With that she squeezed her fist once more, squeals of pain emitting from the trapped man.  
  
"Okay…okay…I'll tell…please stop…" he gasped, choked of breath from having his ribs almost crushed to pieces.  
  
"That's more like it. Now tell me, what's your business here?"  
  
"We were ordered to kill all members of the Briefs family," he responded shakily.  
  
"That was apparently evident. You mentioned papers. What about them?"  
  
"We were also told to steal Capsule Corporation's plans for all their major projects, as well as the ownership document of Capsule Corp."  
  
"WHAT??!" By now Bulma had undid her bonds and yanked the gag from her own mouth. She rushed over to the man and snatched him by the collar, shaking him hard. "Why he hell do you want the papers for Capsule Corporation for??!"  
  
"We-we--don't know…we were just ordered to…" he stammered.  
  
"By who?" Bulma nearly shouted.  
  
He hesitated, as if deciding whether or not there was a chance of escape.  
  
Sashima sensed the hesitation, and stepped in to intervene, putting her point bluntly out in front of her. "Do you want a few broken ribs or not?"  
  
"No! Please! I'll tell!" His eyes nearly popped out of his sockets at the mere sound of her voice.  
  
"Good. Who is this person?"  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Yay, I'm on Break right now! I hope to have two more chapters up before I head back to school…and er…don't get mad if I only manage one, okay? 


	16. A Plot Revealed Part 2

"We were never instructed on the whole plan," the man began, his voice quavering. Sashima took a good look at him for the first time and realized with great amusement that the sweat pouring from his brow was dampening his still-covered face, shrouded by the mask. It gave off quite an unpleasant odor to her sensitive sense of smell.  
  
"Wait a minute," she broke in, striding over to the stocky man, who visibly flinched as she stood in front of him, hands planted on her hips, eying him with an air of curiosity. "I think it'll help your speech quite a bit if you remove this…" She reached over and pulled the black wool mask over his head, revealing a man of straw-colored hair and a dash of freckles. The most unusual trait of his slightly square face, though, was not the common features, but his nose, which looked as if it had been broken more than once, combined with a top lip that resembled a charred eraser.  
  
"Bulma, the man's explanation can wait. Let's fix his other two companions up and free your parents first," Sashima declared, dropping the man onto a wooden chair and holding him securely. "Get the rope from your parents' bonds and tie him tightly. Then find whatever you can to hold the other two."  
  
Nodding slowly, yet more than slightly awed by what she had just witnessed, Bulma at once complied with her orders. Dr. and Mrs. Briefs had sat through the entire ordeal, mouths wide open and observing the scene that played before them shocked, an almost dumbfounded expression on their faces.  
  
"What-what just happened here?" inquired Mrs. Briefs, shakily rising from the floor and clutching onto one of Dr. Briefs' arms for support.  
  
"I don't know myself dear, but I daresay there's not going to be much more trouble for tonight," Dr. Briefs replied, stepping around the shards of glass and straight for the telephone on Bulma's nightstand. "I'm going to call the police and get them here, now." He spoke as he pressed the number for 9-1-1.  
  
Bulma warily made her way towards the shorter and stockier-built man, almost plastered into the wall from the impact of Sashima's one kick to the neck, as her mother flopped down onto the bed, grasping the hem of her robe in an agitated way. Lifting the unconscious man carefully from the dent in the wall amid the peeling plaster and wood, Bulma carefully bound both ankles and wrists, and did the same with the two other men.  
  
"I can't believe someone would go to such lengths to steal Capsule Corporation's data and technology!" shouted Dr. Briefs, slamming the phone down after he'd finished the call. Puffing out his indignance, he seemed to go into another outburst when suddenly he paled. "There aren't any more of you, are there?"  
  
"If you mean any more people like us three, then you're in luck, there's two more with us who can report back and come and rescue--"  
  
"You mean these two weaklings?"  
  
All three Briefs jumped at the sudden sound, and Sashima turned to find Vegeta in the doorway, dumping two more bodies onto the carpet, which were unconscious and slightly bruised.  
  
"Where were you?!" Sashima demanded, stalking over to Vegeta and dragging the bodies to where the others lay. "You could've given me some help here!"  
  
"I don't play the 'Knight in Shining Armor,' girl," he snarled, stalking back to the doorway. "I just found them downstairs while I was on my way up, and decided to deal with them instead. I guess you would rather have been attacked unprepared than be grateful that I saved you from a lot of trouble."  
  
"But--"  
  
"Besides, it doesn't look like you would've needed any help at all girl, and if you all don't keep quiet I would come here and blast you all to hell!" With that he marched down the dim hallway and made a turn to the right, in the direction of his room.  
  
"He's such an arrogant jerk!" Sashima spat out angrily, until she realized that all conscious people in the room had their eyes focused inquisitively on her. "Er…never mind Vegeta then…"  
  
She walked the few steps to where Bulma stood in front of the attempted murderer, folding her arms across her chest. "Now that you're more comfortable, would you care to inform us of your plans?" She directed the question at the man, who had been put into a high backed chair and bound around it.  
  
Taking a deep breath, he began from where he had left off, before his mask had been removed. Still panic-stricken and nevertheless a bit paranoid, the words tumbled from his mouth at rapid speeds. "We were instructed to invade the Briefs' residence tonight, and take the documents for Capsule Corporation at all costs. Originally, killing was last on our list, but we accidentally set off the alarm and alerted everyone in the house of our presence, but we had no choice but to steal the documents and plans all the same."  
  
"Why didn't you have any other choice?" Bulma probed, "Who instructed you?"  
  
"We didn't have any other choice, I swear we didn't! He said he'd track us down and kill us if we didn't have the job done for him! We didn't know what we were getting into, we just assumed it was another burglary and took the job for the cash--we didn't know it was the Capsule Corporation papers we had to steal…and the sum was just too big to resist--"  
  
"Hang on a second," Sashima broke in, putting her hand quizzically to her chin, pondering what he had just told her. "So someone paid you five goons to steal the papers at all costs, and in the process eliminate the Briefs if needed…someone must be really desperate--especially if they threatened to kill you if you failed the job…"  
  
He nodded, a pained look on his fearful face.  
  
"Just who is this person?" asked Bulma, almost afraid for an answer. Subconsciously, she chewed her lower lip as she waited.  
  
There was no answer from the man. His eyes darted back and forth, as if sensing a creature would leap out from the shadows and attack him if he was not watching. "I can't tell you that…he'll surely find me…and then I'll be killed…"  
  
She was starting to get impatient with his lack of cooperation. "Okay, we are going to turn you over to the police and you'll be locked up in a cell, so how do you expect him to find you and kill you?? And what's more, we are probably going to catch this person even before he has a chance to know you've been put into custody!"  
  
"But he'll know! He said if we don't come back by 1:00 A.M., he'd know we've failed! It's already half past midnight already!" he shouted. For a second, Sashima wondered if he'd finally lost it.  
  
"Screw the time! Just who is he?! You do not want me to get the information out of you the hard way, do you??!" Sashima raged. Bulma slinked back a few feet to where her parents stood; Bulma herself was slightly afraid of the change in Sashima's attitude and remembered distinctly what she had confided in her the previous evening.  
  
Still he said nothing.  
  
"Kami! Damnit! You just have to make me use force, don't you?!" Sashima removed her right hand from her chin and this time it glowed a translucent violet, the man once more beginning to squeal like a wounded pig.  
  
"Sashima, stop! You've already exerted enough pain on him!" cried out Bulma suddenly, rushing forward.  
  
"Okay, okay, I'll tell! It's a man named Paul Willis!"  
  
"Er?" Her hand returned to her normal colors and the glimmering ceased. "Paul Willis? Never heard of him. Hey Bulma, do you--"  
  
She stopped when the look on Bulma's face met with her own. It was as if something had fallen onto her back or she had witnessed a cat having been run over, but it was a look indescribable beyond disbelief. Her mouth opened and closed itself slowly, and she mumbled incoherent things to no one in particular.  
  
"Bulma dear, are you alright?" Mrs. Briefs asked hesitantly, laying a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Is anything the matter?"  
  
"Do you know who this Paul Willis is?" Sashima pressed, keen for information. Being with the police force had undoubtedly given her a knack to ask many questions, even at times which none needed to be asked or brought up.  
  
Slowly, Bulma turned and faced Sashima, mumbling out a few words, and then lapsing into silence once again.  
  
"What did you say Bulma?"  
  
She cleared her voice and tried again. "Dr. Paul Willis is one of the most respected doctors of the once Capsule Corporation Hospital--also the doctor who worked on you when you were first brought in, Sashima."  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: *dramatic music in the background* Never expected it to be him, eh? I can probably fit in another two chapters at this rate…oh and I took the disclaimer off starting Chapter 15 because my computer is weird and doesn't show those top two lines right, but that doesn't mean the disclaimer doesn't apply! It still does! Read the other chapters and read the disclaimer! It applies on the entire story! 


	17. Shut Up, Sergeant!

A stunned silence ensued, broken only by the pants of the man bound to the wooden chair and the gentle monotonous tick-tock of the clock suspended from the nail on the wall.  
  
"Does this Dr. Willis have any motives for wanting to take over Capsule Corporation?" Sashima asked. "It seems highly unlikely that a medical doctor would want to take over a technological enterprise…" she mused, slowly beginning to pace back and forth at the foot of the bed.  
  
Bulma shook her head, murmuring, "We run a background check on every employee before they enter Capsule Corporation, and there was nothing discovered that would indicate Dr. Willis had any reason to pose as a threat to C.C. His previous jobs as doctors in other hospitals throughout the country had given him an excellent reputation, and his record is fairly clean as well."  
  
"Well in that case…we have this guy's statement as evidence, but more is required before the police can make any possible arrests, though I suspect that they'll already be charged for breaking and entering, threatening with a weapon, attempted robbery and attempted murder and a bunch of other--"  
  
A sharp rap from downstairs cut her off from the recitation of their crimes. "Open up, it's the police!" Voices from outside could be heard, as well as the scuffling of many pairs of feet.  
  
"Police are here just on time for once," mumbled Bulma, exiting the room and hastening down the stairs. "Boy is Vegeta going to be happy once they come up here…" Within a moment she returned, followed by six officers and their sergeant.  
  
"Everyone, this is Sergeant McIntire." Bulma introduced the sergeant, who was tall and lanky, with dark brown hair and tender green eyes. After shaking hands with the elder Briefs and Sashima, he sat down on a wooden chair, giving instructions as he did so. The six police officers who had arrived in the room with him handcuffed the five suspects, whom only one was conscious--the rest were still knocked out cold from the blows dealt to them.  
  
"Now," Sergeant McIntire began, facing Bulma, "What happened here? Start from the beginning and leave out nothing. A small detail could be worth something major later on in the case, Ms. Briefs."  
  
Bulma gulped, taking in a deep breath before replying. "Well…I was asleep when I heard banging on the door to my room. I went to open it and my parents were there and they told me an intruder had entered the house and to get up and take the back way out as quick as possible."  
  
Mrs. Briefs nodded, adding, "We had heard our alarm go off and then some sort of crash downstairs, so my husband and I left our room. We met Miss Sashima and Mr. Vegeta, who're staying with us, in the main hall on the second floor, and we were told to get out of there at once while they find out what had caused the alarm to go off."  
  
"Oh? Is that so?" McIntire raised an eyebrow skeptically at the young woman who leaned against the wall casually, a bit off to the side. "You seem like a nice young lady…Miss Sashima…"  
  
"Makimoto," she finished for him, bluntly.  
  
"Miss Makimoto…may I ask how old you are? Twenty-four? Twenty-five?"  
  
"Twenty-two, and I don't see how that has to do with the case, Sergeant," Sashima said, a trace of sarcasm in her voice.  
  
He frowned slightly at her tone, but continued on. "I just wanted to know a bit more about who was at the scene of the crime, that's all, miss," he proclaimed, jotting down a few notes on his notepad. "According to you, how would you explain the turn of the events here tonight?"  
  
Secretly she rolled her eyes. 'These cops are more annoying than I am…' she muttered to herself. "Okay, I was asleep and woke up at about 11:50 P.M.--"  
  
"Why did you wake up at that time?" he interrupted her.  
  
"I had a dream and woke up, you happy now? I had a dream, woke up and heard a ringing sound. I realized it was an alarm so I got out of bed and heard a crash downstairs. Went into the hallway and met up with Mr. and Mrs. Briefs--Vegeta as well. I told Mr. and Mrs. Briefs to wake up Bulma and get out of there as quick as possible--"  
  
"Hang on a second, you said you told them to get out of the house? Why didn't you yourself and Mr. Vegeta leave with them as well?" McIntire inquired, scribbling furiously on his yellow pad.  
  
"Look, I have concerns for the Briefs family and everyone who resides here in Capsule Corporation, and from my point of view, if you're able to do something, then by all means go ahead with it. It is much better than doing nothing at all, do you not think so?" said Sashima, a scowl forming over the features of her face. Obviously the sergeant's attitude had begun to take its toll on her patience.  
  
McIntire cast a split-second glance at her before continuing to jerk his rough hand wildly over the paper. "But what could you have done?" he asked absently. "From what we saw and confiscated, these five men were armed and dangerous. Surely you wouldn't have risked putting your life on the line for a brief act of heroism?"  
  
It was as if she had been struck in the face by a steel claw. Her rage almost boiling over, her voice shook with fury and even the beams on the roof seemed to tremble and bend as she hissed out her words. "Are you accusing ME, Sergeant, of having ties with these suspects? Because you are coming dangerously close to saying something you may regret later on; I remind you--you have no right to accuse me without solid proof, so says the law--"  
  
"Let me tell you this, miss," his tone of voice becoming edgy as well, "If you are threatening me--threatening a law enforcement official--if you are threatening me, I can send you to jail right this instance. Your hostile attitude and un-cooperation would do no good in the Briefs' investigation--"  
  
"Sergeant," Bulma cut in, mildly annoyed at the officer herself, "please continue on with the investigation and not waste our time on this issue. Sashima is a friend of mine, and I trust her very much--she would not do anything that would harm my family or myself."  
  
He seemed highly dubious still, even with the famous woman's statement of trust and credibility. He squinted at her through narrowed eyes, as if attempting to pierce her cold gaze. "Alright, Ms. Briefs…" Sergeant McIntire sighed and resumed questioning. "After advising Mr. and Mrs. Briefs about the situation, what did you then do?"  
  
"Mr. Vegeta and myself headed downstairs, in the direction of the alarm. We didn't turn any lights on for fear of alerting our intruders that we were onto them, until we got to the kitchen, where the alarm was. Vegeta and I turned to alarm off, only to hear a scream and then a bang like a gun going off. I didn't know what had happened upstairs, so I ran there as quickly as possible."  
  
"Where was Mr. Vegeta at this time?" inquired the sergeant, raising his eyebrows. "To come of it, where IS this Mr. Vegeta right now?"  
  
She snorted, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. "Vegeta--I presume he was still downstairs when I left. He didn't come up here until later."  
  
"I don't think you want to disturb him at the moment, Sergeant," Bulma added, "he was in a terrible mood from being woken up so abruptly in his sleep, and I daresay he'll be er…extremely hostile, if you wake him up now." She shifted slightly in her chair, thinking of what Vegeta would only do if the police had begun to interrogate the sleep-disturbed prince.  
  
"Then we will come back tomorrow when he is awake to get his part of the story," McIntire said shortly. He now turned to face Dr. Briefs. "From what Miss Sashima said, she had heard a scream upstairs. Do you verify that there was a scream?"  
  
Both the elder Briefs nodded. "When we went to Bulma's room, we had woken her up shortly until three men stormed inside. They must've used a back staircase to have gotten by both Miss Sashima and Mr. Vegeta." Dr. Briefs stated, while Mrs. Briefs continued along, "Bulma screamed and hurled a lamp at them, which caused the noise. They pointed their guns at us and told us to be quiet or else they would kill us, and tied up my husband, Bulma, and myself. When we heard someone at the doors to the room, we knew that either Miss Sashima or Mr. Vegeta had heard the scream, so the intruders stuffed my husband and I into the closet and two of them dragged Bulma into the bathroom. Oh I was so worried! I was afraid for Bulma's sake…what with two hostile men and she utterly defenseless--"  
  
"Mom, it's okay," Bulma laid a hand soothingly around her mother and embraced her. "They're gone now, and we're all fine now, aren't we?"  
  
"You're right Bulma--I shouldn't be upset all over again now," Mrs. Briefs wiped the tears threatening to fall with the back of her hand. "Anyways, one of the men had hidden himself behind a bookcase, and when Miss Sashima broke open the door…she found us…but then he struck her over the head and--"  
  
Sashima had been listening intently all this time, her keen ears taking in every bit of detail accounted for that night. At Mrs. Brief's last words, she knew the older woman was close to revealing information she herself did not want the police to know. From behind the sergeant, she mouthed to Mrs. Briefs her message, and shook her head vehemently.  
  
"And?" Sergeant McIntire knitted his brows. "What happened next?"  
  
Obviously getting her message to leave that part of the story unspoken, Mrs. Briefs hesitated and replied, "Well…Miss Sashima then managed to trip him…and uh…he fell onto the ground and slammed his head, knocking himself unconscious…isn't that right, dear?" Quickly she elbowed her husband.  
  
"Uh yes, that's what happened," Dr. Briefs said sheepishly. "The two men who held Bulma came out of the bathroom wondering what had happened, and one…tripped over his own two feet and crashed into the wall, and dropped his gun while the--the--other…er…went to help him and Miss Sashima just slammed a chair over their heads…and that's how we managed to round up these men…"  
  
"I…see…" Sergeant McIntire said suspiciously, making a note in his book. "But there were five men here, and you only described three? How is that possible?"  
  
"Well you see, Vegeta was still downstairs, and apparently he found two others searching the area and he took care of them for us," supplied Bulma. "Anything else you want to ask?"  
  
"Do you have any idea why these men wanted to break into your home?"  
  
"Yes. They said they wanted to take Capsule Corporation's ownership documents and the plans for our technological projects," said Bulma, a bit sour.  
  
"Really? Did they mention why they wanted to take them?"  
  
"They didn't really say…although they did mention that they were paid to do so; they also seemed extremely terrified of the person who had paid them. It was as if they had failed, and they KNEW he was going to come after them or something…"  
  
"Did they say who this person was?"  
  
"We aren't certain, but hang on…Sashima, did they really say Willis? Or did I imagine it all?"  
  
"No, Bulma…they did say Willis…"  
  
"Okay. They mentioned a man named Paul Willis, who is also a prominent doctor at our Capsule Corporation hospital."  
  
"Any motives you can think of for Dr. Willis?"  
  
"No, not any that we can think of."  
  
"Any other people the suspects mentioned?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Back to Dr. Willis--did you do a background check on him when he began working for you?"  
  
"Yes. It was a clean record."  
  
"We'll put him down as a person-of-interest in this case until we find further evidence to warrant an arrest then, Ms. Briefs."  
  
"That's fine, Sergeant."  
  
"Oh yes, for what reasons are Miss Sashima and Mr. Vegeta staying in your home for?"  
  
"You just had to get back at me, did you?" Sashima scowled, barring her teeth. She clenched her fists tightly at her sides, and noticing this, the sergeant hurriedly turned to Bulma. "Well?"  
  
"That is prying into my personal affairs, Sergeant, and it is a violation to be asking about every single person who happens to pass through my door," Bulma replied, rising from her chair immediately.  
  
"I'm sorry, but this is the procedure for an investigation, and if those two are in the clear, then you would not mind disclosing that information to us," he replied smoothly.  
  
"Both Mr. Vegeta and Miss Sashima are friends of mine who are staying with me for the time being. I see no reason why you should suspect their honesty."  
  
"I see…" Sergeant McIntire rose from his chair, striding over to Sashima, who was still leaning casually against the wall. At 5'6", Sashima was of average height, yet the sergeant towered over her by at least six inches, almost menacingly. "There was an incident today which involved a woman and several members of our Satan City's notorious gangs. The suspects gave a description of this woman and we have compiled a composite sketch…which looks remarkably like you in fact…"  
  
Take up a file case which he had brought along, he flipped through its contents until he had drawn out a newly composed sketch, of a woman who indeed posed a striking resemblance to Sashima. "I suppose this face is familiar?" he questioned.  
  
Sashima took the picture into her own hands, glancing over the details of the face and hair. "This picture could resemble many women--why are you giving this to me specially?"  
  
"Because not many women in that case have the red eyes and red hair every one of the suspects had described…and with the incident at Capsule Corporation this morning involving yet ANOTHER red-eyed, red-haired woman of about the same age range, this coincidence may cause for some concern--"  
  
"Sergeant!" Bulma said sharply, stepping in between him and Sashima, "If you do not stop accusing a fairly innocent person, I would have to call my lawyer! Please focus on the investigation on hand and not deter from other matters. I've said this before, I'm going to say this again--Miss Sashima is a friend of mine, and I will take full responsibility for her actions!"  
  
McIntire was highly taken aback, and that was the last time that morning he attempted to start any more new accusations. By the time the police left the Briefs' residence at 1:30 A.M., no more leads had turned up. All five of the suspects were driven off to custody, their weapons taken as pieces of evidence. A search of the house and grounds of Capsule Corp. had revealed that they had bypassed the security on a side gate, snuck across the grounds, and had gotten in through the patio doors, which they had pried open and enabled the alarm to be set off. A search of the house showed that the intruders had not taken anything, and Sergeant McIntire, before he exited through the front doors, promised that they would call them if further leads turned up in the investigation.  
  
Dr. and Mrs. Briefs, along with Bulma and Sashima sat in the sitting room, sipping glasses of iced tea around the antique coffee table. Sleepy-eyed and yawning profusely, the first things the elder Briefs asked were of Sashima's unique abilities. At first they seemed mildly frightened, yet as they continued to talk into the wee hours of the morning, they realized she posed less of a threat than Vegeta, owing to her polite manners and her actions of that day.  
  
When her parents had retired for bed, Bulma sat facing Sashima once more, much like the scene several hours earlier. "That sergeant was real arrogant, I'm sorry Sashima," she apologized.  
  
"Don't apologize for him, Bulma. I've been around enough police officers to know what they're like, and how worse they can get. That sergeant won't get too far on the case, believe me." Putting her glass of iced tea to her lips she took a long sip before continuing. "What are you going to do next, Bulma, since this doctor works at C.C. and all…?"  
  
Wrinkling her forehead, Bulma said, "If he shows up for work tomorrow, I guess I should confront him…those suspects might have been lying though…"  
  
Sashima nodded. "I suggest you re-read your information on him, and find out as much possible. Keep him under high surveillance at all times while he's at work and contact the police frequently for leads. I might do a bit of investigating myself, since I have nowhere else to stay. I highly doubt your city's police force…"  
  
"I'll be safer with you helping on this case, to say the least," Bulma yawned. "It won't be the first time they've failed a case…" She rose to her feet, stretching out her exhausted limbs. "Wow this is the first time I've noticed it's this cold during the mornings--it's so hot in the daytime!"  
  
The other woman chuckled, feeling the cold for the first time that morning as well. Looking down, she finally remembered that she had jumped out of bed a little too hastily, still only in her pajama bottoms and tank top. "We should better get to bed--there's probably many things to be done tomorrow."  
  
Bulma groaned. "Damn press is going to be at the door for the 6:00 A.M. news I bet…" Shutting the lights and rechecking security, they made their way up the staircase and down the main hall. "Reporters are so damn annoying!"  
  
"I know what you mean, but just ignore them when they come at 6:00 A.M. I'll disconnect your doorbell or something to keep them from waking everyone," said Sashima. "Oh and speaking of things…er, I'm sorry about your wall--I didn't mean to slam him that hard…"  
  
"Forget about it, and besides, I still need to thank you again for saving my parents and me. I'll just get a carpenter to repair it."  
  
They reached their separate rooms and bade each other goodnight. The whole of the residence slept soundly, until about 6:00 A.M. when a group of men and women, loaded with cameras and equipment of all sort, rang the entrance bell for Capsule Corporation. What the perplexed people got back was utter silence.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Unbeknownst to the world around them, two figures sat in complete silence around a blazing fire. The residence was a fine brick home of middle-class status, a normal house of all being--at least from the outside. But once a person took a step into the interior and chambers within, it was darkness to the highest degree. The only sources of light were the raging fire atop the glass tray and the candles that surrounded the two figures. The rest of the house was unlit and had a peculiar odor to it.  
  
"She's turning out real fine, isn't she?" the younger of the figures inquired, massaging his right ear delicately.  
  
"The angels have contacted her again, but it seems as if it's too late. The demon within her is growing steadily stronger."  
  
"Have not the angels been trying to get her to rid the demon within and ascend safely to Heaven?"  
  
"They have, but obviously their plan has failed. They fear she would discover the great power and destroy them all with it."  
  
"Is that even possible?"  
  
"She is a hybrid, no less, and whichever side possesses the body, whichever she will become. At the moment, the angel side has kept her demon in control--thus she remains a human and possesses no threat to the angels above. I have no idea in Hell how the angels expect her to annihilate the demon without having her go through the entire cycle--and we know that is extremely risky…"  
  
"Shall we proceed with the plan we were instructed with?"  
  
"I think we should. Her outburst toward that man this morning…pure evil…she needn't have tortured him; she had other methods she could have used. Yes, it is best to proceed. Once we get her onto our side, it would be us who will be victorious! It would be us, I say! Angels…heh heh heh…in the war a thousand years ago we may have lost, yet now the greatest prize of all is within our reaches! We carry out the plan tonight!"  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Wahhh! I haven't written in over two weeks! Ah!! No worry, I'm back. And who are these mysterious people and what are they plotting? Th-they aren't plotting against who I think they are, are they? Uh-oh…I have a bad feeling about this… 


	18. Without a Trace

"Dende, did you sense that surge of power a few seconds ago?" Kami spoke quietly, gripping his staff in his hands, which began to tremble slightly.  
  
"Yes, Kami, I did…do you think it's a new enemy?" The younger Namek inquired, peering up at the Earth's Guardian with awed eyes.  
  
"It is much too early to tell at the moment, but I fear the worst…" Such somberness was spoken that Dende uttered not a single word after.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Up on King Kai's planet, Bubbles and Gregory stopped their games as King Kai grew stiff. They watched with curiosity as his blue antennas began to pick up and read information that had begun to release itself from Earth.  
  
"What is it, King Kai?" asked Gregory, the golden cricket, in a high-pitched voice.  
  
"Oh no!" He suddenly shouted, alarming Gregory and Bubbles to the extent that they fell over on their own feet. "I sense a new energy source on Earth--one of pure evil! Oh no…this is bad…terribly bad…what are we going to do? What are we going to do??" Panicked he proceeded to run in mad circles around his home, yelling his head off like a maniac. When he had calmed down, he coughed and regained all seriousness.  
  
"This is an enemy that our Earth's Defenders have never seen before, one much greater than even Freeza. Unlike Freeza, they cannot be slain by a mortal hand…"  
  
"What??!" Gregory exclaimed, round eyes bulging out to the sides. "Then how will Goku and the Z Warriors defeat them?"  
  
King Kai shook his head sadly. "It seems that Earth domination is not what they want…if that was it, they would have made their move much, much earlier. No…I am afraid it is that new source of power I have detected these last couple of days."  
  
"Do you mean to say there is another warrior on Earth, King Kai?" asked Gregory, stunned.  
  
"No…at least from here I do not think so…this new source of power…" He paused to collect his thoughts before he continued to speak. "It is pure good combined with pure evil, making it all too deadly. But the question which lies before us, is can she use that power for the right purpose…"  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Sitting up in bed abruptly, Goku sat still for a moment. All seemed normal for a place so deep in the mountains. The summer's breeze was slightly chillier up in the high elevations than down in the city below, and nearby, the soft humming of a stream gave a peaceful lullaby for sleep. The rustle of the trees and growth of the woods were mixed with the movements of the night's creatures. Farther down in the hall, Gohan could be heard snoring.  
  
Beside him, Chi-Chi stirred and muttered drowsily, "Why are you up, Goku? Is something the matter?"  
  
"No, nothing's wrong…" He spoke slowly. "Go back to sleep."  
  
Goku stroked Chi-Chi's hair as she dozed back into a deep sleep. He lay on the warm bed for quite awhile before being able to fall back asleep as well. There was just something--Goku couldn't quite shake the feeling that he had sensed a powerful source of energy, yet he had felt no ki.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"And here comes the reporters and newspapers, early as usual," grumbled a dishelmed looking Bulma. Ever since she had woken up at about 9:00 A.M., a crowd of the annoying press people had already gathered at her front gate, camped for the night it seemed. "I should probably go and talk to them before they decide to break down the gates--ugh, they are so damn annoying and loud! They pry into your private affairs and never let you go!"  
  
Sashima glanced up from the paper she had been reading at the table in the kitchen. Having woken up just a half hour ago, she had wasted no time in repairing the wall she had damaged the previous night and mending the plaster and wood in Bulma's room. Rising from her seat, she parted the curtains in front of the sink and peer disdainfully outside.  
  
"I can probably do sometime to get rid of them, but that would most likely lead to complications…" she began, but Bulma interrupted her hastily.  
  
"No it's okay, I'll go deal with them, I'm used to it all," said Bulma, backing away slowly towards the door, remembering all too well how it had been earlier that morning. "By the way, have you seen my parents anywhere?" She paused at the doorframe.  
  
She shook her head, the strands falling to her eyes. "I suppose I should head Downtown again, scout around and check out how the police are working on the case." Brushing past Bulma she made her way to front door, only slamming it shut when she noticed the reporters were still camped in front of the gate. "On second thought…not through there."  
  
Bulma chuckled and pulled the door open herself. Blades of the morning sunlight slashed themselves directly onto the two women, blinding Sashima almost. "You definitely do not want to be there."  
  
She stopped before leaving. "Oh I remembered something…your friends Krillin and Muten Roshi told me to say hi for them." Sashima grinned, before disappearing into the light.  
  
"What?" A bewildered Bulma was left standing at the threshold. "How'd you meet Krillin and Muten Roshi?"  
  
"There she is!"  
  
The roar of excitement had come from the reporters who had finally spotted the C.E.O. of Capsule Corporation. Hacking at the gates like wild beasts clawing on the bars of a cage, desiring to be set free, they hurriedly reached for their cameras as Bulma neared the gates. Shaking her head and heaving a deep sigh, she thought, 'This is going to be one long day…'  
  
* * * * *  
  
The flight to downtown Satan City took even less than the previous day, and the first thing Sashima did when she landed on the cement pavement was inquire where the local police station was.  
  
"Go three blocks down and turn a right," an elderly lady instructed her, smiling and showing her gold teeth. "But be careful, dear, that area is full of gangs."  
  
"You mean they dare to be THAT close to the police station?" Sashima asked, stunned. Back home in Harakatsuma, no criminal would've dared have any hideouts within a half-mile radius of the police stations.  
  
The woman shook her head, staring past Sashima's shoulders, a faraway look in her knowing eyes. "You really don't want to be in that area of town, really, especially someone as pretty looking as you, dear. I must say, if you want to talk to the police about something, they are a bunch of about the most corrupt law enforcement people I have ever seen!" With that, she stalked around, shuffling her tiny feet down the sidewalk, and headed into a small grocery shop.  
  
Sashima was left standing, alone, in the middle of the sidewalk, as the cars whizzed by at top speeds. Even though it was early morning, she had no idea where the city's population in that particular area was. It seemed as if everyone who drove past was in a desperate hurry to get out of the area as fast as their wheels could take them.  
  
"Weird people here…" she mused, before turning around and continued to walk down the street. As she rounded the corner, the banging of metal could be heard on something softer. She increased her pace until she came to a deserted lot, littered with trash and whatnot, a foul odor from the decay.  
  
"Hey! What's going on here!" she demanded as, in the back of the lot, a group of young men were kicking and beating another young man with metal rods. He writhed on the ground painfully, like a snake that had poisoned itself, and a pool of blood had begun to drip from his forehead.  
  
"It's not of your business, girlie, so get the hell outta here if you don't want to get hurt!" One of the men jeered at her menacingly. They turned their attention away from her and resumed their thrashings on the figure hunched over on the wasted soil.  
  
"Get away from him!" she shouted, rushing forward and grabbing a rod that had been poised to strike him.  
  
"Why you little bitch--" The man swung his left fist forward for a punch to the face, but not before Sashima had given him a hard knee in the gut. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath.  
  
"Get her!"  
  
The remaining men rushed at her, each with their rods raised, coming in from all sides. With accurate precision, she leaped into the air and landed a jump kick across the faces in a quick, arc-like sweep of her right foot. They fell, hard, onto the ground, wincing and clutching their faces in pain.  
  
"That was just too easy…" Muttering, she stepped over the limbs of the ruffians and helped the bloodied man sit up. "Here, let me help you up…" Grasping him by the armpits, she slowly pulled him to his feet, and for the first time looked at his face.  
  
"Oh no…that cut above your eye, let me take you to the hospital," Sashima began, dragging him along. "I'm sure they would fix you up in no time--"  
  
"No that's not necessary," the man replied gratefully, "Just thank you for saving me, I can get to the hospital myself."  
  
Stopping in mid-tracks, she gave him a skeptical look. "You sure? You sure these people," she jerked a thumb at the men still writhing on the ground, "won't come and get you again?"  
  
"I think by the way they are right now, they won't be able to get up until I've reached the hospital." He chuckled, hacking up a mouthful of blood.  
  
"Ugh, no I think I should better take you there--"  
  
"I said it wasn't necessary."  
  
"Well, why were they beating up on you?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Puzzled beyond her wits, she did not notice that he had gotten out of her grasp until he stood on the sidewalk several feet ahead of her. "Well, thank you again!" Smiling, he rounded the corner.  
  
"Wait!" Sashima sprinted after him, tearing around the corner.  
  
"What…where is he?" Looking around in all directions, there was no sign of him, nor any traces of blood.  
  
"Who was he?" She pondered, heading back to the lot. Peering in, her heart skipped a beat when the ruffians were no longer there. "What the hell?!" She burst out, all senses on alert. She could hear only utter silence amid the pounding of her heart, and she sensed no one to be near. Still, she could not shake the feeling that she was being watched yet again, as the reoccurring chill down her spine told her it was not just a mere gangster…  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: I decided Chapter 18 was getting a little too long, as it had already passed the 3,600 word mark and I still wasn't done with it, so I broke it down into two chapters. I've been really busy with school, so I apologize for the delay in this chapter…I'm still kinda short on time as the end of the quarter is coming and my grades aren't all that hot…or up to their usual standards. Whatever you call it. B, A, A, B, A, A and there's a lot of work to be done if I want to fix those Bs and keep the As. 


	19. Unchecked Attraction

"Excuse me, but I would like to speak to Sergeant McIntire." Sashima tapped her foot impatiently at the base of the reception desk in the front hall of the police station. Besides a young officer who sat behind the desk, shifting through heaps of paper, they were the only people in sight.  
  
"I'm sorry Miss, but the sergeant is out at the moment," he replied, busying himself with his computer. "Do you want me to leave a message for him, or would you like to speak to someone else?"  
  
"Is there someone else working on the Briefs' break-in case? If there is, I would like to speak to them."  
  
"Nope, all officers on the case are out following a possible lead. Is there a reason you wanted to know?"  
  
"I'm a friend who's living with the Briefs and wanted to check up on the case for them," Sashima answered coolly.  
  
"Is that so?" Raising his head from his papers, he took his first look at Sashima, and immediately became wide-eyed. His eyes traveled slowly from her face and slowly down to her feet, then back up again, eyes lingering at her chest.  
  
She was remotely aware of what the officer was doing, and it didn't seem quite unusual as he seemed not much older than she was, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six at most. Even so, she usually hated men who ogled at her.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" She asked quietly, pretending to check that everything was in place. She had purposely attempted to make her outfit as conservative as possible, wearing a pair of sweats, running shoes, and a white, short-sleeved button-up shirt, but it seemly that no matter what she wore, the message was still plain and clear: being a half-angel would give you qualities that were just a little TOO nice.  
  
The officer came around to the front of his desk. "Say, I'm off duty tonight, so how about it? Wanna go on a date with me?" He could not take his eyes away from her.  
  
Frowning at the bluntness of the question and the nerve of him, she did her best at a calm answer. "I'm sorry, but I have something I need to attend to tonight and--"  
  
"Oh come on," he broke in, moving ever closer. Sashima visibly flinched, and he took the moment to put his arm around her waist. "It'll be a fun evening, I promise, I'll take you to dinner and then we can head back to my apartment…" Slowly he moved his hand up her shirt.  
  
She had had it. "You perverted bastard, get your dirty hands off of me!" she screamed, giving him a hard strike to the face. He flew back, crashing into his desk, and grabbing his nose quickly. When he took his hands away, his nose was bleeding profusely.  
  
"You-you--" He stammered, at a loss of words.  
  
"Tell McIntire that Sashima Makimoto came and paid the office a visit," she snarled, pushing open the glass door and stalking out, not giving any more looks to the officer who was still staring, shocked and bleeding, on the floor. "People these days are just…ARGH!" Throwing up her hands in disgust, she made sure her shirt was on properly before leaving the station behind and venturing off.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The sign shimmered golden in the afternoon sun, flecks of light bouncing off the red background, which were surrounded by two ferocious looking dragons. "China's Delight," Sashima read the English below the Chinese characters.  
  
Entering, and telling the lady at the counter she wanted a table for one, Sashima was directed to one near a brightly lit window. The sun's glare was almost unbearable, and she plunged a hand into her sweat pockets for Muten Roshi's sunglasses. It was an amusing sight alright, to see a woman with sunglasses indoors, but at the moment, it didn't matter if anyone had been staring.  
  
Presently, a cart rolled by and a woman in a white blouse politely asked what she wanted to order. After selecting several dishes, she sat back to enjoy the savory food. All the while she was deep in thought--her mind kept wandering back to the man she had helped earlier that morning. Where was he now? Who was he? How had he disappeared so quickly? Why were the thugs after him? And how did the thugs get away so quickly without leaving any signs?  
  
All these questions and more her cluttered her head as soon as she had left the police station. While passing through the lot once more, she had looked in, and still there was nothing. Nothing but a slight haze remained. There was a coldness about the place, a sense where something seemed to be breathing right down the back of your neck, or maybe from the touch of a ghost. She didn't know if ghosts really existed or not, but if angels and demons did, then they sure as hell might coexist as well.  
  
For the first time, as she was passing the lot, she noticed in the back, way back, shrouded with trees and shielded with shrubbery of all sorts--a house. From the sidewalk, one would not be able to notice that it was present at all, yet when one ventured farther in, one could see it was a magnificent brick-home of two stories in height, a style of building not common to the modern world. The maroon curtains had been drawn closed, and there was no sign of anything in, out, or around the house at all. She dared not go any closer than she did, though, for she could sense the house had some evil in it, a slight odor that she knew had sensed before, but could not recollect. There was something about it…that just reminded her of herself.  
  
Engrossed in her own thoughts, she did not realize the figure that had came into the Chinese restaurant until he had sat down directly in front of her.  
  
"Hey," he said, gazing at her face.  
  
"Oh!" Snapping out of her thoughts she took a good look at the figure in front of her. Her heart nearly did a cartwheel. Never in her life had she seen someone so…there were no words to describe it. He had long blonde hair the color of straw, flowing neatly down to the nape of his neck, and his eyes--they were as red as her own! He had a fine nose and a slightly angular face, and in one ear hung a small hoop earring--the other, three stud earrings. Wearing a black button-up shirt that had the first three buttons open, she could see his well-muscled chest, and at that moment, a strange desire to put her hand on it completely overwhelmed her by surprise.  
  
He was looking at her quietly, a puzzled expression. "Um…is there something wrong?" he asked.  
  
Sashima had been staring too hard at him, and she quickly whacked the inside of her head for doing so. "Heh heh," she stammered nervously, "sorry I was just caught up in my own thoughts."  
  
He smiled, showing two rows of perfect white teeth. "Never expected to see you here of all places."  
  
Now it was her turn to be confused. Did she know this man? "Have I met you before?"  
  
He threw back his head and laughed, a loud raucous laugh that drew the attention of most people in the room. "I guess it's hard to notice what one really looks like when they have blood covered on half their face, isn't it?"  
  
"But…oh!" Blushing, she took a drink of water to calm herself down. "You're the same one from this morning?" She noticed no sign of blood on his clean clothes, and then realized her idiocy--he must have changed into fresh ones.  
  
"Sure am," he replied, "went to the hospital and they fixed me up. See here." Pushing his hair away from his eyes, Sashima noticed a white bandage to the side of his head, blood contained on the other side that threatened to leak through.  
  
"That still doesn't look too good…" she commented, busying herself with her food. "Have you had lunch yet?"  
  
"No, just got out of the hospital," he said as his stomach gave a loud growl.  
  
She gave him a slight smile--she could never let her guard down around men, but this one…she couldn't help it. "Take that plate and help yourself," she instructed, and called to a waiter nearby, "Excuse me, but could I have another glass of water?"  
  
When the waiter left, Sashima searched desperately for a conversation starter, but she needn't have bothered since he was talking again.  
  
"Soooo…I still don't know your name…" he began, feeling slightly awkward.  
  
"Oh hahaha…how stupid of me not to tell you…um, yeah…my name is Sashima…" she blushed again. 'Damn, what is wrong with me today?!' she thought.  
  
"Sashima…what a beautiful name…"  
  
"Er…thanks. What's your name?"  
  
"Xavier."  
  
Xavier. A fine name for a--she whacked her head again, trying to shake the cobwebs from it. Just why she was acting this way was a complete mystery, a feeling she had never in her life felt before. It made butterflies in the pit of her stomach and her heart was beating faster than ever.  
  
"Why do you wear sunglasses inside?" Xavier asked, "I'm sure your eyes aren't bad at all."  
  
"What? These?" Sashima reached up to her face and jerked the glasses away, the sunlight blinding her instantly. She just couldn't take it--the sun was directly overhead and shining straight into the windows. "Er…vision problems, can't tolerate much sun. Hope you don't mind if I leave them on."  
  
Shaking his head, he made to take some of the food from the tray, just as she did the same. Their hands brushed, Sashima drawing hers back quickly. "Sorry, you go first."  
  
'His eyes,' the thoughts ran, 'are the same color as mine. But why--why doesn't he have anything to the sunlight? Red eyes are not too common, so why--it must be he has on sunlight-resistant contacts. Yes that must be it…'  
  
As if reading her thoughts, he casually looked towards the sky. "This sun really is too bright. You should get sunlight-resistant contacts, like the ones I have."  
  
"I suppose so…" Inwardly, she knew no pair of contacts would work as long as she had the demon blood.  
  
For the next few minutes, they munched on their food silently, making little conversation. After about ten minutes, Xavier looked at his watch and did a start.  
  
"I have to go--I'm late for an appointment!" Scrambling to his feet, he began to leave when he turned around. "I was wondering…would you like to get together some other time? Like next Saturday?"  
  
"Of course," she blurted out before she could stop herself, and then rushed on, "what time?"  
  
"How about I meet you at the ferry docks at 7:00? You know where that is?"  
  
"Yeah I do…" she said, making a note to ask Bulma when she returned.  
  
"Okay. I'll see you next Saturday then, Sashima!" With a wave of his hand, he was out the door and dashing down the crowded sidewalk, dodging the hoards of people.  
  
"Oh Kami…" she muttered, now coming to realize what she had just done. "What in the world was I THINKING?"  
  
She had never been on a date before.  
  
* * * * *  
  
In the shadows of a nearby alley, two figures stood, conversing with one another.  
  
"How did it go?"  
  
"Wonderful," the younger one smirked, leaning against the brick wall of the building. "I think our plan would do perfectly…"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Bulma?" Sashima called from the front door when she returned later that afternoon. The reporters and cameramen had long since gone, and the front hall was nothing but silent.  
  
"Oh Sashima, you're back!" Mrs. Briefs ushered into the hall from the kitchen, an apron on and a cutting knife in one hand, obviously making that night's dinner. "Bulma wants you to go to the main computer and research lab as soon as you came back."  
  
"Thanks, Mrs. Briefs." Sashima smiled and turned to head back out the front doors.  
  
"Won't you have something to drink before you go?" asked Mrs. Briefs, running back into the kitchen and grabbing an orange soda, thrusting it into Sashima's hands. "You must be thirsty!"  
  
"Er…thanks again!" Sashima smiled sheepishly and put a hand to the back of her head. "Where's the main lab?"  
  
"Take the main path straight to the end, dear, and it's that building with the extra big satellite on top of the roof," Mrs. Briefs replied pleasantly. "Be sure to come back in time for dinner!"  
  
"Don't worry, I won't miss the chance for food!" Waving heartily, she exited the house and strolled along the path into the heart of the Capsule Corporation grounds. It was only about 5:00 P.M.; Sashima had returned earlier than expected for lack of better things to do, and the feeling that she had felt while having lunch with Xavier was still present. But alongside that though, was a pang of nervousness, and one that questioned the validity of her decision.  
  
Something about him…just something about Xavier troubled her. He had been bleeding, bleeding to death it had seemed, and still he had managed to disappear so quickly and without a trace. The thugs had disappeared as well, in the same fashion. Then about two hours later he showed up, looking fine and in good condition--how did that work? They surely would've surely kept him much longer, she was sure of it. But no, she had to be foolish, foolish and stupid, to accept his date. Something about him was not to be trusted, yet she was attracted to him all the same. But it was too late now, wasn't it? She had already accepted, and the only thing left to do was to be on her guard whenever she was near him.  
  
At the end of the pathway was the main lab of Capsule Corporation, a two-storied building with windows lined in neat rows. Through one of the windows on the ground-level, Sashima spied a flash of turquoise hair posed in front of a computer screen, who she was sure was Bulma.  
  
She gave a sharp rap on the door. Presently, it was opened and a wearied-looking Bulma stepped out. "Oh you're back! How has your day been?" She inquired, forcing a tired smile.  
  
"Hectic, but your mother told me you had something important to tell me, or it at least sounded like something important was going on…"  
  
The two women stepped inside, Bulma leading Sashima to a complicated-looking computer near the back of the room, and took a seat. "I was trying to dig up information on Dr. Willis, like you suggested. There was nothing much I could find on him, at first--"  
  
"Wait a second," Sashima broke in, taking a chair nearby. "Did Willis ever show up for work today?"  
  
Frowning, Bulma shook her head. "No he never did, which adds more suspicion on him, but as I was looking onto the files, I came across some information that was highly disturbing."  
  
Raising her eyebrows quizzically, Sashima watched carefully as Bulma opened a folder and pulled out several files. After closing some, Bulma scrolled down the current document that was open and took a deep breath.  
  
"Read that paragraph." She pointed to a small section halfway down the page.  
  
Sashima looked over at the words, and began reading aloud, " 'Paul Willis was an active doctor of the Meizano Institute of Health of Sciences for over ten years. As part of our team of doctors who studied in neurology, he had performed a total of six hundred and seventy nine surgeries, with no failures reported. Unfortunately, due to his own complications of the heart, he retired to live a peaceful life of his own. On March 2nd, he was admitted to a local hospital, where he died hours later from a resultant heart attack…' "  
  
Sashima gulped, rereading the paragraph once more, then another time to make certain she was not imagining anything. Scrolling down the page, she finally found what she had been looking for.  
  
"This article was written two years ago…"  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: The second half of Chapter 18 completed, but this isn't Chapter 18, so what am I saying? It's Chapter 19 for Heaven's sake! Yes and I spent another day without homework, yayness for me. I just love putting [ness] at the end of words, such coolness. J/K. It gets to be a usual thing…yeah. Also, I knew I mentioned like some sorta *cough* scene in Chapter 19 or 20, and I'm sorry yet again, but I decided to move that back a couple of chapters. But I promise, there will be SOMETHING at least. 


	20. Power of the Immortals

"If this is the real Dr. Willis…if he had really died two years ago…then that means the person who had worked at Capsule Corp was a fake…" Sashima mused, pursuing her lips in concentration.  
  
"That makes perfect sense," agreed Bulma, moving her fingers deftly across the keys on the keyboard. "With a record like Dr. Willis's the person would have easy entry into the Capsule Corporation workplace facility. Before entering though, I'm sure they would've cleared all sources of information about the real Willis--or at least the fact that he had already died."  
  
"Then they must have missed this then," Sashima guessed, filling in the silence that followed. "But the question is, why would they want the technology of Capsule Corporation and the ownership documents?"  
  
"Well I checked all of our rival companies, and they are nowhere as high-scale on production and financial levels as we are, but having a go at our technology would have a drastic improvement on their status as corporations. Plus, the ownership documents, if the men had actually been able to get my parents to sign them, it would give them the rights to Capsule Corporation--we would virtually be nothing but a proxy for them." Bulma made a sour face and took a sip from her cold coffee cup, and continued, "Were you able to get any new leads from the police?"  
  
Sashima shook her head, a look of disgust as she reminisced what had happened. "No help at all. I checked the prisons before actually going into the station, and the suspects were there alright--all five of them, and alive as well. Then when I asked the guy at the reception for McIntire, he said he and all the other officers were out on the case!" She snorted, a sudden feeling of indignance. "On the case my foot. I bet they were out for an early lunch or something, and that officer--ugh, the way he was looking at me…he probably wanted to screw me right then and there if I hadn't beat half his face into a mesh."  
  
Bulma smiled despite herself. So this was what life was like for Sashima. As much as she liked her attitude, determination, and bravery, Bulma couldn't help feeling a tad envious for her luck with men. Now that she knew Sashima wasn't one to play typical lady with them, she felt much relieved.  
  
"Now don't be too harsh on them," Bulma chided knowingly. "They were just messing with you."  
  
Snorting in repulse, Sashima pushed a stray strand of hair back from her face and faced Bulma. "You would think they were--until they get real near you and such. Like today, he was reaching up my shirt, and I'm like, 'what the fuck?' and just reacted, right then and there."  
  
"Oh?" The corner of Bulma's eyes perked open at a sudden thought. "You don't like them doing that?"  
  
"Hell no I don't! You think I'm crazy or something?" Sashima scowled. "I keep my distance from them, they leave me alone--but I don't think it's working quite well, is it?"  
  
"Well…no." Bulma had to admit-- she was practically a magnet towards people of the opposite sex. "But still…how do you manage on dates with your attitude?"  
  
"I've never been on one," she replied shortly.  
  
Slowly, Bulma's jaw became slack and dropped, lower and lower until it practically reached her chin. "You've never been with anyone? Anyone at all??" Bulma just could not believe anyone Sashima's age not having been…  
  
"No I haven't and it's not that hard to believe either. I was withdrawn from people most of my life, and no one wanted to be with an outcast anyway, and anyone who did dare to ask was turned down--a little harsh, but I didn't give a damn at that time," Sashima said bitterly, though with a hint of pride in her icy tone of voice.  
  
Bulma sighed, turning back to the computer screen. "That's life for you…if only finding this Willis impersonator was just as easy."  
  
"I wish so too…cases like this which drag a long time are--hey wait a second!" Repeatedly, Sashima whacked her forehead several times, shaking her head in pity. "Duh! How come I never thought of it! I must be losing my touch…"  
  
"What? What is it?" Bulma was practically on the edge of her seat; she could feel Sashima was on the break of cracking the Willis case once and for all--and in less than twenty-four hours for that matter.  
  
"Bulma, do you have a photograph of this person who entered Capsule Corp under the name Willis?" Sashima asked, taking Bulma by the shoulders.  
  
"Yes of course, hang on…I'll need to pull up the personnel files…" With perfect speed and accuracy, Bulma hit the necessary keys on her keyboard, bypassing numerous password and security prompts, until a list of all employees were drawn up. Clicking on the file that read, 'Willis, Paul,' a photograph was pulled up, along with his personal information.  
  
"Hmm…he doesn't look too different from the photograph I saw when you pulled up that other file," observed Sashima, peering closely at the computer screen. "He might have had to change his facial features to pull it off though. Like here--" she pointed to the eyes, "this person's eyes are slightly wider horizontally than the actually Willis's."  
  
"Do you have a plan to track this person down?" Bulma ventured, hoping that she did indeed had thought up of something. Bulma herself had run out of ideas a long while back.  
  
"Yes, and now I feel terrible for not thinking of it earlier," Sashima replied quietly. "By taking a good look at a person or a photograph, I can locate that person anywhere on the globe within a mile radius."  
  
"Whoa, you really can?" Bulma asked, utterly astounded. She had heard of the immortals being able to locate anyone whom they wished, but this was the first time in her life had she witnessed something so extraordinary.  
  
"Give me a few minutes," Sashima said, putting up a hand to silence the blue-haired genius. Never taking her eyes off the photograph on the computer screen, her eyes stared hypnotically deep into the picture, the eyes connecting with one another, a simple, invisible beam of data surging through her mind.  
  
Crossing her fingers for the best of luck, a chill surged through Bulma at the sight of Sashima, perfectly still at the computer next to her own. For the first time ever, Bulma finally understood the phrase "power of the immortals."  
  
From the deepest chambers of Sashima's mind, millions of faces were scanned, thousands rejected every second, until the faces became a great crimson blur. Shutting her eyes tight as if a great whirlwind was howling itself through the insides of her head, Sashima was in a trance-like aura for several minutes until suddenly jerking her head up to glance at Bulma.  
  
"I got it!" she exclaimed, leaping to her feet and rushing to the door of the lab.  
  
"Where is he?" Hastily saving all of the data on the two opened computers and shutting them down for the day, Bulma joined Sashima at the door, flicking off the lights and locking the lab up behind them.  
  
"Well, where is he?" Bulma questioned impatiently as they hurried back up the path to her house. Already it was early evening, yet the sun's rays shone as brightly as ever.  
  
"Yeah, he's not too far from here if I'm mistaken." Quickening her pace and pushing her sunglasses farther up her nose, Sashima lead Bulma back to the Briefs' residence. "From what I picked up, he is in the forest about fifty miles to the west of here."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Shouldn't we involve the police in this?" Bulma nervously pulled at her hair while pacing back and forth in Sashima's room. Sitting on the bed was Sashima, making last minute checks on her outfit, which was entirely black. "To camouflage with the darkness," was what she had said when Bulma had inquired, and it was indeed true. The black Sashima had on was the darkest of all black shades, and even her hair had been wrapped inside a black bandanna to prevent the red from standing out against the night.  
  
"The police?" echoed Sashima, getting off the bed and moving to a pack in a corner of the room, which contained a couple of flashlights, batteries, water, and weapons--all necessary for Bulma. "One guy is not going to be too much a problem for us, and the police needn't get in our way, for that matter."  
  
"But shouldn't we at least think this more through before we proceed with the plan?" said Bulma, fidgeting anxiously. "What if you get hurt and then I'll be left to fend for myself and-and…"  
  
"Bulma, I won't get hurt, and even if I do, it won't be too life threatening, will it? No. And you don't have to come, Bulma. I'll be perfectly fine on my own." Snapping the pack closed, she slung it over a shoulder and headed for the door. "I'll be back before midnight hopefully."  
  
"Wait!" Bulma shouted, rushing after Sashima's long strides down the hallway. "You can't go alone! This is my corporation at stake here, so I should be part of it, too!"  
  
As she caught up, the younger woman threw the pack to her, which she caught neatly using both hands. "Here," she instructed. "You take this. I won't be needing it."  
  
"Do you think we should get Vegeta to come with us?" They were passing the Saiyan's closed door--it was silent on the other side.  
  
She shrugged her shoulders. "Not a good idea, I don't think. Training all day, he must have dropped asleep right after dinner, wouldn't he?"  
  
"You're right…" Bulma sighed and followed Sashima down the stairs and into the living room. Her mother and father were already anticipating the two of them; when they noticed the two coming, they rose to their feet in a slow, almost defeated way.  
  
"Mom…Dad…" Bulma whispered, embracing both of them dearly. "I'll be back soon, I promise."  
  
"Do you have to go, Bulma?" Tears glistening in Mrs. Briefs' eyes.  
  
She nodded saying, "This is the quickest way to end our troubles, so don't worry about me. I'll be with Sashima, and I know she'll protect me if anything does happen."  
  
Dr. Briefs turned to the figure dressed entirely in black. "We're counting on you, Sashima. Please take care of my daughter…and please try and return as quickly as possible. If it's…something you feel like you can't handle…" he trailed off, a lump forming in his throat.  
  
"We'll come back quick and intact, Dr. and Mrs. Briefs--that I put on my life." First embracing Mrs. Briefs and lastly exchanging a handshake with the doctor, she motioned for Bulma to not waste anymore precious time.  
  
In the darkness of the Capsule Corporation grounds, the temperature of the air was holding steady--hot and stiff--the markings of a summer storm ready to hit in the near future. The sun was just beginning to set over the horizon, and Bulma checked her wristwatch. Ten minutes till nine o'clock.  
  
"Can you fly?" Sashima asked all of a sudden, moving to an area concreted to a vast distance--the area for the spaceships produced by the corporation to be test launched. On takeoff day, there would have been mounds of equipment in preparation, but at the time being, all was empty.  
  
"Fly?" Bulma repeated the word as if it was sometime foreign. "Oh…no…I can't--"  
  
"No no no," Sashima broke her off, "Fly--as in plane sort of fly. Are you able to take the controls?"  
  
"Um…" Images of the last time she had flown replayed themselves in Bulma's inner eye. The scene as her plane had caught fire, the moments when she has began to plummet, coming within mere feet of the ground, the last thoughts of death…  
  
Suddenly her feet seemed they were made out of Jell-O, and she stumbled, grabbing onto Sashima for support. "Sorry, I was just…remembering…"  
  
"That's alright; there's more than one way to get there."  
  
"What about you? Can you fly a plane?"  
  
"No, afraid not."  
  
"Couldn't you teleport us there?"  
  
"Well…since it's about fifty miles, I'm not even sure if I can make it there alone by teleporting…"  
  
"Could we take a car? I'm sure it will take only about half an hour at most--"  
  
"Got it! Bulma, I need that plane capsule!"  
  
Taking out the capsule case from her pocket, Bulma handed it over to Sashima warily, completely perplexed. "I thought you didn't know how to pilot an aircraft."  
  
"I don't." Grinning, she reached in and took out the fifth capsule, pressing the cap and throwing it quickly out in front of them. In an instant, a small, single-engine jet appeared from the dust.  
  
"Come on!" Sashima called, sliding open the door to the cockpit. Hopping in and taking the controls, she waited until Bulma had clambered in through the passenger's side, then turned on the front lights for the jet.  
  
At the sight of the familiar controls, Bulma shuddered and closed her eyes tight, chasing away the horrid images. She turned her head slightly, staring out over the grounds, far off into the distance.  
  
"You alright?" Sashima asked worriedly, noticing Bulma's face had begun to pale rapidly. She looked as if she was about to pass out.  
  
"What?" She was jostled away from the terrible images. "Oh it's nothing…so how are you going to get this thing to fly? I'm sorry that I can't teach you how to operate the controls…I mean…"  
  
"No problem," Sashima replied, and again she grinned, adjusting her seatbelt. The entire cockpit was illuminated as Bulma flipped the light switch. Reading the controls on the panel, Sashima inserted the key into the ignition, turning it. The engine and propellers sprang to life with a vociferous roar.  
  
"Okay!" Laying her palm against the throttle and shutting her eyes fast, Sashima began to chant in a strange language. For about a minute she did this, until at last she opened her eyes and cried, "Polar Coordinates: fifty-three miles, one hundred and seven-five degrees!"  
  
"What the--" Bulma started to say, but was slammed back into her seat after the plane rose itself off the launch pad, higher and higher above Capsule Corporation. About one thousand feet up, it began to turn almost a half circle, until they were facing the west. At a remarkably straight line, the jet cruised at a steady pace, as if drawn by an invisible hand.  
  
"What did you do?" Bulma breathed, breathless, as Satan City passed quickly below them. "How're we able to fly…without moving any controls?"  
  
"I concentrated some of my life's energy into the plane," she began, leaning back into a more comfortable position. "By putting enough of it at an object, I can basically control about anything, living or non-living."  
  
"But…won't this affect the amount of energy you have left?" Bulma could not help thinking what might happen if Sashima had collapsed from exhaustion or anything of the like. "I could've at least tried to give you instructions on how to fly this thing…it's not too hard--"  
  
"I failed my pilot's license many times." That was Sashima's only answer.  
  
* * * * *  
  
In about half an hours time, the plane had slowed its speed, flying lower and lower until the tops of the trees from the dense forest below seemed almost near enough to touch.  
  
"Wow! Goku and Chi-Chi don't live too far from here!" Bulma exclaimed, pointing to a nearby mountain.  
  
"We're going to land soon," Sashima warned Bulma as she spotted a clearing up ahead. "Decrease speed by 75% at a velocity of 2.56% per second. Decline at thirty-five degree angle--cease engines upon landing."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Shit…" Sashima massaged the top of her head tenderly. "Bulma? You okay?"  
  
"Yeah I'm fine," Bulma called from beside her.  
  
It was nighttime when the two women stepped out from the jet and recapsuled it. The sun had finally set over the horizon, and long shadows were shed from the surrounding trees and underbrush of the forest as they made their way through it, flashlights in hand.  
  
"The landing was a little too fast, I'm afraid…" Sashima replied meekly, pushing aside the branches and limbs hanging off the trees. The undergrowth tore at her clothes, and the vines seemed to reach out at them as they ventured deeper into the heart of the forest.  
  
"At least we weren't killed," Bulma said good-naturally. "Where do you suppose Willis is? It's going to be almost impossible to find him in shrubbery like this!"  
  
Pursing her lips, Sashima stopped and thought for a second, pondering the best course of action.  
  
"What is it…?"  
  
"We can cover more ground if we split up, but…" She shifted her eyes towards Bulma hesitantly.  
  
"Don't mind me, I'll be fine on my own." Bulma tried desperately to muster enough courage as she could, yet through her voice, Sashima detected a fair amount of fear. Her skepticism must have shown through, as the next thing she knew, Bulma had stomped off ahead, the beam of her flashlight moving erratically against the environment.  
  
"No! Bulma! I promised your parents--"  
  
She crashed through the forest, following the beam of light that emanated itself from Bulma's flashlight. Once, the flashlight seemed to go out as she rounded a bend of trees, and soon, there was no sign of Bulma.  
  
"Fuck…" Sashima cursed herself for ever suggesting to Bulma that they should've split up. The forest was a dangerous place, and even if Bulma did not run into Willis, natural enemies still prowled about--the usual bears, wolves, mountain lions, and other carnivorous animals. Besides that, the terrain was unfamiliar, and one wrong step could cause the loss of a life.  
  
"Damn she sure can move fast in this underbrush." She staggered through the trees, without the need of any light. Since the sun had set half an hour before, her ruby red eyes were free to enjoy themselves as much as possible--they relished the darkness.  
  
"Just where can she be??" Shutting her eyes fast, Sashima scanned the forest for her face. Her heart skipped a beat as an image slid itself into her mind's eye.  
  
"Oh shit! Teleport!"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Grumbling, Bulma tried to keep a steady of a hand as possible while making her way along. There seemed to be no evidence of a path, nor any signs or recent human activity.  
  
"Oh why the hell did I just stumble off on my own?" She muttered angrily to herself. "Sashima won't have any trouble--she can always defend herself or some sort. But me…all I have is this flashlight, a pocketknife, and a handgun…what good would that do for me--AHHH!!"  
  
Her foot catching in the root of a tree, Bulma fell headlong onto the forest floor, skinning both hands as she caught herself and tearing her jeans in the process. From both palms and kneecaps, the blood oozed slowly from the thin wounds.  
  
"Are you okay?" A voice behind her rasped.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Brushing the dirt from her pants, she staggered to her feet, helped from behind.  
  
"I'm so glad you're here; this forest was really starting to creep--" She suddenly ran cold, as her heart pounded in her throat. Next, her stomach tightened itself into a knot as she did a double take at the hands that held her up.  
  
The fingers were much too long to be Sashima's tiny ones.  
  
Before she could whip the handle of her gun around, the unmistakable coldness of metal was pressed against her throat. She didn't have time to react as a burning pain like that of wildfire slashed itself from one side to the other of her neck.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Ah blood and gore…well not a lot, as I'm not good at writing that kinda stuff. Not too thrilled at the sight of my own blood, or anyone else's for that matter. My DSL line was down for over half a day yesterday and into this afternoon, so I couldn't get online. All that was left for me was to write, and here I am…another chapter. Heh, another turn in the story…believe me the pieces are gonna fit into place soon…or at least I hope so. I'm just itching to get back to Xavier and Sashima…  
  
Oh yes, I'm on Spring Break and it's been real pleasant. Bored a lot, but at least it's a time that I can use to chill a bit, can't I? My contacts are really starting to annoy me, even though I've only had them for about five days. They still take me about twenty minutes to put in…not enough time before school. Now that's something to worry about… 


	21. An Hour to Live

"Oh Kami…I can't be…"  
  
Even teleporting at her swiftest speed, it was too late. By the time she had reached Bulma, her assailant had been done with her, leaving the woman lying on the forest floor, the deep gash in her throat spurting out blood at a rate that would have sickened even the most refined of surgeons. He was nowhere to be seen.  
  
"Bulma, you can't die right now! You just can't!" Sashima's cries rang throughout the trees, echoing around her. "I promised your parents I would return with you safely and now what? You've just got to hang on!"  
  
Gently raising Bulma's head to rest on her knee, she did a quick evaluation on her condition. She was by no means a doctor, but from the amount of blood she was losing and the draining color from her face, there was little time to spare. Either get her to the nearest place, or let her life slowly ebb away among the desolate trees.  
  
"You've got to remain strong, Bulma--don't give up!" She did not know how the words of encouragement would do Bulma any good, as she was certain she would not be able to hear them. What Bulma needed was an extension on her life--enough time until something more powerful could be administered to revive her.  
  
But what? Bulma had mentioned that while Sashima herself had been on the brink of death, they had used some sort of magical bean--what was it called?? A senzu bean! Yes, that was what it had been called! Though where she would find one, she had no idea, but she knew a person that most definitely would.  
  
At that moment, a dark cloud passed over the moon, obscuring the little light that had managed to pierce its way into the heart of the forest. The wind began to pick up, sending the chill breeze to ruffle her clothes and splatter Bulma's blood against her own face. If she had strained her ears, Sashima would have heard a distant roar of thunder.  
  
"More time…she needs more time…" One last glance at Bulma told her she only had about a minute more of life left, at most. Looking back onto herself, it was then that Sashima could no longer hold back her last doubts.  
  
Taking a deep breath, she slowly inched her hand onto Bulma's neck, the warm blood against her fingers making her feel extremely sick to the stomach. Channeling a portion of her remaining energy through her palm and into Bulma, the wound slowly began to heal itself, the color returning gradually until her face was no longer the sheet-colored white. Still, Bulma's eyelids did not flutter open as Sashima expected they would.  
  
The sudden flash that illuminated the forest scattered a few monkeys into sprinting higher among the branches of their tree homes. Presently, the low growl of thunder pounded itself overhead, large flocks of birds taking to the sky. Soon, the rains would come.  
  
Sashima slumped back against the trunk of the enormous tree, catching her breath. The rise and fall of her chest slowly decreased in speed as her brain came out of the mist. Ki energy would have done no good to Bulma's life, and in turn, she had had to use the energy that no warrior on Earth possessed--energy that only the immortals held. In truth, beginning stuck in a human's body gave her the advantage of both stores.  
  
"You have about an hour more, Bulma…hopefully that's enough time…" Getting to her feet, she laid a hand on Bulma's shoulder and shut her eyelids tight.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"GOHAN! It's time to get ready for bed!" Chi-Chi called into the living room, where both father and son sat, eyes glued to the t.v. screen.  
  
"But Mom, ten more minutes? Please? He's about to--" Gohan stared up at his mother, pleading with his eyes.  
  
"No! It is almost 10:30 and your bedtime! You get ready for bed right this instance--"  
  
"Aw, come on Chi-Chi, Gohan doesn't have school or anything tomorrow, so an extra ten minutes won't really…" Goku trailed off as Chi-Chi's ice-cold glare pierced him, shutting him up.  
  
"Now Gohan…you heard what your mother said…"  
  
"But Dad, I--OOMPH!"  
  
The combined weight of Sashima and Bulma came crashing down all at once on young Gohan, atop his back and rear. If it weren't for the fact that Gohan was a half-Saiyan, he most surely would have been crushed.  
  
Face flat on the wooden floor, he slowly raised it, bright red, and mumbled, "Please get off of me…it's very uncomfortable you know."  
  
"Oh! Bulma!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, hurrying forward and grasping Bulma by the hand, yet pulling back startled at the amount of blood that had already escaped from the wound. "Bulma! What happened? Bulma, please answer me! This is Chi-Chi!"  
  
"She won't be able to hear you--she's lost a lot of blood." Sashima spoke quietly, carrying Bulma from off of Gohan and laying her straight on the wooden floor. "Someone go get a washcloth and clean her up."  
  
"Wait a second." Goku put a hand on Sashima's shoulder, not exactly forceful, but nevertheless wary. "I think you should tell us what happened first?" In the other room, they could hear the sounds of Chi-Chi drawing water into a basin.  
  
Sashima sighed, taking a seat by Bulma. "There was a break-in at Capsule Corporation early this morning. I suppose you heard about it on the news?"  
  
Goku and Gohan were attentive in listening as they slowly nodded. It had been breaking news early that morning. Chi-Chi hurried in from the bathroom, lugging a wooden basin and several washcloths. With gentleness she rarely showed, she began to bath Bulma's wounds. "Bulma…please wake up…"  
  
"Well, Bulma and I dug up a lead to the break-in…"  
  
"But what exactly did happen?" Goku broke in. "All we heard was that several men had attempted to break into Bulma's home to obtain information and were arrested by the police later on."  
  
"It turned out they wanted ownership documents for Capsule Corporation. They threatened to kill the Briefs if they would not hand them over."  
  
"WHAT?!" The entire Son family gasped in unison.  
  
It was now Sashima's turn to nod. "They were instructed by a man by the name of Paul Willis, a doctor at C.C. This afternoon, Bulma found out that the real Willis had died two years back, and the one working at C.C. had been a fake. When I was going to go after the fake this evening…Bulma insisted on coming…"  
  
"We flew into the forest from Capsule Corp. I suggested that we split up since we would have covered more ground, but…that was foolish of me, now I realize. Bulma…she's just a human…she's…she's not like me…there was a dangerous man loose in the forest, and I just had to suggest that we'd have to split up! It's…it's…I'm sorry Bulma…" Turning her face away to hide the tears, Chi-Chi quietly gave her a tissue, which she used to dab her eyes with.  
  
"Before I could stop her, she had already gone…I couldn't find her in the forest. By the time I did find her…her neck was slashed open, and she was almost dead. The person--I'm assuming it was the Willis impersonator himself--was nowhere to be seen."  
  
"Oh Kami!" Chi-Chi shrieked, all faces turning to her abruptly. "The wound's already closed!"  
  
"It should be. I gave her about 75% of my energy--enough to last for an hour. If not, she would have died by now."  
  
"How…how…I never knew ki can be used that way…" Goku stammered, bewildered. Again he tried to gauge the woman's ki: a steady 500. So she had not lost any from before…  
  
"It's not ki I used." Sashima's blunt answer startled Goku greatly, but before he could react, her eyes narrowed and she faced him, almost scowling. "We're wasting too much time here. We need to get her a senzu bean or whatever you call them!"  
  
"Right." His face all seriousness, Goku laid two fingers onto his forehead. "I'll be back in a few minutes." With that, he teleported off to Korin Tower in search of Karin.  
  
"I'd better be going too, Chi-Chi." She turned to leave.  
  
"Wait! Sashima! Where are you going?"  
  
"To get payback on Willis. Don't worry, I'll be back in less than an hour." With fists clenched tightly at her sides, she teleported out of the Son's living room.  
  
"Sashima…" Chi-Chi whispered, clutching Gohan tightly.  
  
"Mom, would Miss Sashima be alright?" Gohan peered up at his mother, deeply understanding the situation at hand, even though he was only a child. Looking down at the still figure of Bulma, he added, "Is Bulma going to be alright?"  
  
"I hope so, Gohan…I sincerely hope so…"  
  
A flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder; they were brighter, louder, closer now. Several minutes later, it had begun to pour.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Luckily, she found the entrance to the cave before the rain started. She was almost glowing with anger as she pushed aside the hanging vines and stepped into the damp entrance. It seemed like a dank corridor hewn from stone, but there was a shiny and metallic quality to the walls and ceilings. He was here--that was for sure.  
  
As she made her way slowly down the metallic hallway, all of her senses were turned onto highest alert. One could not tell if the place was not rigged with booby traps or anything of the like. About halfway down the hallway, she noticed there were more and more square openings into the wall--getting denser and denser as she traveled.  
  
All of a sudden there was a flash of light, blinding her temporarily. A hot flash of pain seared across her left shoulder before she knew what had hit her.  
  
Presently, there were many lasers being fired from the holes in the wall, rapidly, all at once, until it was impossible to dodge them without getting hit. The ones that hadn't managed to strike their target ricocheted off the steel walls, so there was a constant round of fire. It was all she could do to conjure up a quick ki shield, and even then she had to concentrate on holding it steady.  
  
As quickly as it had started, the lasers ceased their fire and all was quiet once again. "Damn! What kind of maniac is this?!" She bit her lip as tiny rivulets of blood streamed down from her arms, back and legs, where the laser blasts had punctured through her black leather and created minor injuries.  
  
"What next?" She muttered, keeping her ki shield firmly in place if any more traps were to come. The more she walked, the dampness increased greatly, until it seemed as if the rain from outside was pouring directly into the cavern. For about fifteen minutes she traveled on, encountering little to hinder her way, until she came to a three-way fork in the passage.  
  
"A fork…which one to take…all three lead to the same destination, but what might be IN those tunnels is the problem…"  
  
She glanced at her wristwatch. Unless Goku had returned by then and administered the senzu bean, there was only a bit more than half an hour for Bulma. Taking a deep breath, she plunged straight through the middle passage.  
  
At once, a steel door slammed shut from behind her, and farther ahead, the grating sounds of something remarkably like a chainsaw…  
  
"What is it NOW? Damnit…oh Kami, what the hell is that?!" Along the corridor ahead was a rumbling sound, and as it got increasingly louder, what produced it came into view: a set of rotating blades set only inches apart from one another, coming towards her with rapid speed.  
  
"When I get my hands on that freak, I swear I'm never gonna let him near a control panel ever again!"  
  
The blades were moving closer--twenty feet, fifteen, ten, five, until at long last, they creaked to a groaning stop in front of the steel doors, four feet back from the place where Sashima had stood.  
  
"You have to do better than that." Sashima snickered, as she appeared farther down the hall, unharmed this time by the blades. "This is too much like an Indiana Jones--Ahh!"  
  
She was cut off in mid-sentence as the floor panel beneath her feet gave way, and before she could catch herself, began plummeting head first deeper and deeper within the earth.  
  
Sashima hit the thick, liquidly substance with a tremendous SPLOSH that reverberated eerily within the steel chamber.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What?! What do you mean the senzu beans are not done growing yet?" Goku was panicking--Bulma only had about twenty minutes left.  
  
Karin leaned casually against his staff, moving along his precious bean plants. "I'm sorry Goku, but you took the last one I had the other day, and it takes awhile until these babies are grown and ready to be harvested."  
  
"Well, how much longer?" cried Goku.  
  
"Hmm…" Stopping from his work momentarily, Karin stroked his chin, calculating the remaining time. "I say about half a day should do it…"  
  
"What?! But we can't wait half a day! Bulma has less than an hour to live!"  
  
"Have you tried the hospital yet?" Karin said simply.  
  
"What? The hospital…"  
  
The white cat fell over on both his legs.  
  
"YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN'T BROUGHT HER TO A HOSPITAL YET?!"  
  
"Er…no…"  
  
* * * * *  
  
Back at the Son residence, Chi-Chi anxiously paced back and forth, glancing at the clock every ten seconds.  
  
"Mom! You're gonna wear the floor right through if you don't remain calm!" Gohan shouted to his mother, taking her by the hand and sitting her in a chair by the table. "You've got to have faith that Miss Sashima would return on time!"  
  
"I know, Gohan…but what if she doesn't? It's been forty minutes, and there hasn't been a sign from either her or Goku. If Goku had gotten the senzu bean, he would've been back long before now!"  
  
"Mom…do you think there is something strange about Miss Sashima?" Gohan asked softly.  
  
"No…not particularly. I have no idea how she just got into our home with Bulma, but other than that…"  
  
"I think Dad suspects something about her, too. Her ki is way lower than Dad and I, but she said she used some other kind of energy to give life back to Bulma."  
  
A flash of concern crossed Chi-Chi's face. "What are you suggesting, Gohan?"  
  
There was a grim look about his face as he answered her. "Her other store of energy is more powerful than ki. Meaning--if she was to fight against us, we probably would not stand much of a chance."  
  
* * * * *  
  
A crackle greeted her as she surfaced from the lime green liquid, making her way to the edge of the pool and dragging herself out. The liquid had gotten into her eyes, making them sting like bloody hell, and the fumes from it--they were enough to make a normal person pass out. The substance must have been acidic as well, as her black bandanna had burned clean away, as with parts of her leather jacket and pants, where portions of the flesh glowed a bright pink and were painful to the touch.  
  
"Welcome Miss Sashima--" A voice called from somewhere high up within the chamber, as she struggled to open her eyes, hacking up clogged blood back from whence the laser beams had struck her. "--to my lair--"  
  
"--and your final resting place."  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Relatively short chapter…and this is what? Chapter 21? *thinks* Next chapter is…hmm, this is a pretty nice pace I'm going at… 


	22. Xenoplianix

"Gohan! You and your mother meet us at the Satan City Hospital while I take Bulma there now!" His wife and son were a bit taken aback at the tone of his voice, as Goku was a relatively calm person, but there had been a note of urgency in it, which they had hardly ever heard present.  
  
"Aren't there anymore senzu beans?" Chi-Chi asked, alarmed, kneeling by Bulma's side. A little less than twenty minutes to live, the color had begun to drain from her face, getting paler and paler by the second. Her breathing had become shallower, each heartbeat farther and farther apart from the last.  
  
"Karin says it would take about half a day more for them to ripe, and if Sashima can't get back in time…the hospital can at least try and prevent her from slipping any further. If she died here…" Goku trailed off, looking warily at his wife.  
  
"Stop, Goku…don't say anymore. Just go now! Go! Get Bulma to the hospital!" Chi-Chi burst into tears as Goku took one last look at them, before teleporting Bulma and himself away.  
  
"Mom, please stop crying…" Gohan said soothingly, trying his best to bring Chi-Chi back to her feet. "Bulma wouldn't want to see you like this, so you've got to be strong, for HER."  
  
"You're right Gohan," Chi-Chi hiccupped, smothering the last of her sobs. "I've got to be strong--for her." Standing up, she made her way to the window, at the rain that poured down so heavily, it seemed as if giants in the clouds wanted to drown the creatures beneath them. "We better get going. Your father should have gotten there already."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Just who are you?" Sashima demanded impatiently at the voice that rang throughout the cavern. At long last managing to force open her eyes, she took a good look around, noticing that the pool of acidic liquid was surrounded on all sides by walls of sheer rock. Between the rock wall and the edges of the pool was a floor of hard concrete, about ten feet wide, encircling the pool. A tiny portion of light filtered in from somewhere high above her.  
  
"Where are you? Come show yourself, you coward!!" She swung her head about in all directions, looking for a place in the rock where he might hide in, yet there was none. Her glance came to rest above her, at a panel of windows that she could dimly make out the silhouette of a tall person behind them; it was also the place where the little light that entered the cavern had been coming from.  
  
As if sensing her eyes had reached him, the lights behind the panels of glass flashed on, making the cavern many times brighter than before. For the first time since she had fallen into the pool, Sashima could make out the figure, standing triumphantly behind the glass, who seemed to scorn down at her.  
  
"Well, well, well…if it isn't Sashima. I had great fun in watching you get through the…what should I say…obstacles." He smirked, laughing scornfully down at her.  
  
"If you know what I can do, then I suggest you give up quietly--unless you want to have your head twisted halfway around your neck!" Sashima yelled up at him, clenching her fists. "Just who are you and why did you imposter that doctor to get into Capsule Corporation?"  
  
"Me?" He asked almost innocently, pointing a finger to his chest, and then throwing back his head. A cold laugh rang in her ears, heartless, one who would stop at nothing. "But I AM Dr. Paul Willis!" He smiled, showing bright, white teeth.  
  
"Liar!" she exclaimed, shocked that this man had the nerve to lie right through his own teeth. "Dr. Willis died two years ago from a heart attack! You can't possibly be him!"  
  
"I can't, can I?" The man frowned slightly, but continued. "Well you certainly did your research, but I'll admit, I'm not the real Dr. Willis. He was just a name for me, seeing as he was so much respected in the medical fields, no one, especially not Capsule Corporation, would refuse his application for work there."  
  
Sashima scowled disgustedly. "You used a dead man's name for your own evil purposes!"  
  
"You're wrong there," he beamed down at her and began to pace behind the glass frame. "I did use his name, but in the name of the Red Ribbon Army, the technology we will obtain would be crucial in our quest for world domination!" He shrieked, pounding the glass like a madman.  
  
"World domination? All that for world domination? I'm sorry, but with you alone, you most possibly will NOT be able to accomplish that, and even if your attempts aren't anything less than futile, you will be broken down to bits by Bulma and company," said Sashima derisively. Silently cursing herself for the amount of time the chitchat had been taking, she prayed to Kami that Goku had already gotten the senzu bean and that Bulma was healed and back to good health. Yes, that must have been the case--she could feel Bulma's weak ki rising slightly higher and holding steady. Something was wrong though--her ki was still well below normal…  
  
She was jolted out of her contemplations as the man above her cleared his throat.  
  
"Ahem…now if you may listen to me once again?" Cupping his chin in the palm of his hand, he stared up into space, pretending to be in deep thought. "I will give you one chance, and one chance only. I will allow you to join my ranks, as you would be a superb addition to our fighting power. What do you say?"  
  
"And what if I refuse?" She narrowed her eyes menacingly.  
  
"I have no choice but to kill you--no one, and I mean absolutely NO ONE, will stand in my way of getting Capsule Corporation and dominating the world!"  
  
"Even if you do kill me, Bulma already knows about you. She can track you down, kill me for you, you hear?!" The mention of Capsule Corporation had refueled the rage she had felt moments ago when she had pledged to avenge the harm done to Bulma. She just wish she could know for sure if her blue-haired friend was really out of danger yet.  
  
"Foolish woman, did you not know the blade I had used to slit her throat was laced with Xenoplianix poison? A poison once entered into the bloodstream would kill within two hours. Even if you do find a way to stabilize her condition, which I highly doubt, she will experience the dangerous symptoms of it for the rest of her life--" He paused dramatically. "--which is a year, at most, before the poison slowly eats away at your skin and inner organs."  
  
"You--goddamn--bastard--" Sashima had both fists clenched, her teeth grating against each other from anger. She could no longer think clearly as multiple veins seemed to be throbbing against her temples and arms. "--I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!!" She flew directly at the glass, her right hand pulled back into a fist.  
  
"I think not." With extraordinary calm, his finger reached for a red lever, pushing it up to maximum.  
  
From nowhere, the white light blinded Sashima, shielding the man whose hand was placed ever so firmly on the lever. It was so great in intensity, it seemed as if she was staring inside the core of ten suns. Her head began to pound, the thoughts began to spin, even after she had already closed her eyes, squeezing them shut.  
  
'No…this can't be the end of me…to be defeated by what is supposedly my own source of power…'  
  
The remaining energy which she had was diminishing, swiftly, lost from her falling body. If she could just get inside the area where the man had the controls, if she could just get to him, it would be over for him, that quick. Did she have enough energy left to do so?  
  
"Now!" He screamed, moving his fingers rapidly over the buttons. There was a slight whirring sound overhead.  
  
'Come on! Come on!' The voice in her head urged, getting weaker and weaker by the second. 'You've got to teleport! Now!'  
  
"I…I can't…" she muttered to herself, finally letting go. "I c-can't…draw enough energy…fast e-enough…"  
  
Something extremely hard and heavy slammed into her body full force, the blow bringing her airborne once again. It seemed as if every nerve had ruptured in her body, her blood spilling forth from the reopened wounds, coughing up from her already damaged and bruised lungs.  
  
"So I die again…a human I will be, again…"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"You can't be serious! Can't you DO something about her?!" Chi-Chi had to be restrained by her husband and son as she put the doctor who had administered Bulma into a powerful chokehold. Practically wringing his neck off, her yells attracted the attention of other medical practitioners. "You're a doctor, you're supposed to save her! What do you mean there is nothing you can do?!!"  
  
Goku managed to pry Chi-Chi's fingers loose from the poor young man's neck, who slumped to the ground, clutching his neck and gasping for the air that he had been denied for half a minute. Slowly, his face returned to its normal colors, and he stood up, though keeping a safe distance away from Chi-Chi.  
  
"Mrs. Son, we have tried all that we can, but as I've said before, Ms. Briefs has been infected with Xenoplianix poison, a highly deadly toxin that there is currently no cure for. We have her on life support at the moment, but when the poison reaches its final stage in about an hour…she may not be able to survive it. We are sorry, but we have done all that we can. I must go now." He left, backing slowly away, not daring to turn his back on the enraged Chi-Chi.  
  
"Oh Bulma! You've got to live, you've just go to!" Chi-Chi threw herself onto the side of Bulma's hospital bed, clutching her hand with both of hers, wailing repeatedly. Expectantly, Chi-Chi took a quick look at Bulma's face, hoping there was some kind of reaction. There was none.  
  
The Son Family gathered quietly around Bulma's bed. Goku stood near the huge paneled windows, remembering the first time he had met Bulma. He was only twelve back then, and Bulma not much older, a sixteen-year-old already intent on hunting for the dragonballs. He sighed, pounding the wall in frustration.  
  
"Dad!" Gohan exclaimed, shocked at the outburst. "Are you--oh no…the lifeline is getting flatter…" Gohan moved closer to the instrument, watching the green line with uneasiness.  
  
"Oh no…no…no!" Chi-Chi continued sobbing, her tears staining the white sheets.  
  
"I can't stand it anymore!" Goku burst out. "I-I…we can't do a thing to help Bulma! All we are doing is standing here while she slowly dies. The senzu beans cannot counter poison, and Sashima has not returned after an hour! If she was here…maybe she could extend Bulma's life a little longer, until we do find a cure, but…I'm worried that something might have happened to her…"  
  
"What about Dende?" Gohan suggested, moving to his father's side. "Can't he heal as well…?"  
  
Shaking his head sadly, Goku replied, "His power goes only as far as physical wounds, I'm afraid."  
  
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the sounds of the machines attached to Bulma.  
  
A minute passed.  
  
Another minute.  
  
Five minutes had passed by until Goku raised his head, more worried than ever.  
  
"Gohan."  
  
"Dad?"  
  
"Do you sense Sashima's ki?" He asked slowly.  
  
"N-no…no, I can feel it now…but it's…Dad she's really weak!" Gohan cried out, looking up sharply from the floor. "Should I go and see if she needs help?"  
  
"No, Gohan. You stay here with your mother." Goku's voice was strong and firm. Without further questions, his son obeyed.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Been about a month, but this is the first night I've had without any stupid homework due. Oh yeah. Check back in about half an hour or so? I need to edit Chapter 23. 


	23. Blood Thirsty Hunger

'Is this death?' Sashima wondered as she walked blankly ahead. In the far distance, a light shone dimly, illuminating the shapes of two figures. When she got closer, she realized with a start that those two were none other than herself.  
  
She groaned aloud. If she saw herself, then that must've meant…  
  
"Don't be too happy girl, you're not dead yet." The first of her, the one to the right, spoke. Although she was undoubtedly her, Sashima could scarcely recognize the figure dressed in black from head to toe. Her hair was not red in color, but midnight black, and there were strange markings upon her face. She smirked, reminding Sashima of her own self as well.  
  
"Don't listen to her, Sashima." The second one counseled, a glow radiating from her as soft and smoothing as the finest silk. Although the look on her pale face was streaked with undeniable remorse, her smiled shone through, highlighting every delicate detail on her pearl-colored robe.  
  
She spoke again, "Do not lose faith in us, Sashima--remember that even though you want to fail, we are still here, supporting you…do not forget we are eternal spirits. You WILL pull through this!" She whirled to the darkness beside her. "Do you not support her as well??"  
  
"Well to be honest, she needs to learn to depend on herself…so I don't see why we should bother taking her from the real realm and dragging her all the way out here…" She stared off in space, idly twiddling her dark hair.  
  
Her counterpart sighed. "You were never supportive, were you?"  
  
"Damn right I wasn't…we're wasting our time here! How come we don't just let her die and we can try again in some future life? Ne? Sound good? Okay, I'm outta here…" Muttering off to herself, she turned onto her heels and stalked off into the distance, her speck becoming ever more faint.  
  
"I'm sorry, Sashima…you know how she is…" Meekly, she tried to apologize, looking slightly agitated. Shifting uncomfortably, she too, began to back away. "It's about time for me to leave as well."  
  
"Wait!" She cried out suddenly, reaching forward. "Can't you tell me how to defeat this evil guy??" Desperately, it was as if she were in slow motion that she made her way towards the evanescent glow.  
  
"Sorry, but only you yourself are supposed to find the truth. We are just here to talk to you whenever necessary. We try and give encouragement, but unfortunately, there is more than one of us here…"  
  
"Oh Kami--you two aren't the voices I've heard in my head, are you?"  
  
"Sadly--yes." With a whirl of her pale hand, she dissolved from the feet up, leaving a sweet scent of freshly cut flowers.  
  
Sashima paused, turning around briefly. Just where was she? If those two were her conscience…or something…then that must've meant she was stuck inside her own head. Leaning down, she pressed an ear against the dark floor, listening for any sounds that might lead her out of the place. Hearing none, she slammed her open palms against darkness, bruising them badly--it seemed the floor were constructed by an especially durable substance.  
  
"Shit…how the hell am I supposed to get outta this weird place? It's must be a dream, it must! C'mon, you have to wake up!" Over and over she repeated these words to herself, until they became monotonous, drawling longer and longer until her head began to swirl with intense force.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Well look here…if it isn't the great Sashima, unconscious for the past half hour and just lying there, ready to be taken care of…" Dressed in a white lab coat, the Dr. Willis impersonator had his back turned onto her, measuring out a red substance into a pteri dish.  
  
Slowly, she forced her eyes open, which were still tender from the previous round. She never got past opening them to slits until the overhead light was directly above her, shining its glow into those brilliant red eyes. Maybe not the kindest of men, but the man which had his back turned to her at the moment undeniably had some brains.  
  
Clink! Chink! Clink! Her arms flailed wildly as she tried to jerk herself out from the chains that bound her wrists and feet. It was no good. No matter how much effort she exerted, the chains had an almost magic-like current running through them--an electro-magnetic force strong enough to counteract a normal ki. To make matters worse, the energy that Sashima had lost while supplying Bulma had been a decisive factor. In simple words, there was absolutely no way that she was to attempt any escape stunts.  
  
Dejected, she lay on the cold metal chair, keeping her eyes shut. Her arms and legs ached from the restraints, but especially her left arm. "What the hell did you do to me??" Gingerly, she moved the arm, wincing in pain.  
  
"Who are you referring to?" He replied coolly, shaking the test tube containing the liquid.  
  
"You! Who else is here?!" She screamed, biting back the pain from her arm. It felt as if a thousand scorpions had stuck their stingers all at once into her.  
  
"I have a name, you know," he said, a tad bit irritated. "DuMon."  
  
"Why are you telling me this? You idiot, don't you realize that by telling me your name, everything is over for you??!" DuMon suddenly became silent.  
  
"No…" He began slowly…taking the vile of liquid as he moved over to where she lay. "There is no chance of that." With a calloused hand, he reached up and flicked off the overhead light, until only a heating lamp to the far side illuminated the room.  
  
Sensing the light off from her eyelids, Sashima blinked once, twice, three times to make sure she was not seeing things. The room she was in was most definitely the control room where DuMon had operated in, and it seemed to be a laboratory as well. Equipped with beakers, vials, measuring devices, liquid and gaseous substances, and much other scientific particles, it reminded her very much of a mad scientist's own lair.  
  
For the first time she looked down at herself, realizing blood stains covered a good portion of her clothes. They had torn off in some areas, such as the gash-like holes in her pants. On her left arm attached a transparent tube, slowly draining the blood from her.  
  
Her eyes grew wide from surprise, to confusion, then fear. "Wh-what are you doing with me? What are you using my blood for?"  
  
DuMon merely removed the tube from within her, the cut spilling out the remainder of blood onto the stone floor. She grit her teeth from crying out in pain, and watched helplessly as he filled a beaker, then added the substance from the vial that he had been mixing.  
  
For moments she watched him like this, unsure and apprehensive, and neither she nor him spoke. Gradually, a vile odor was emitted from the beaker, and it was thus when the scientist decided to speak.  
  
"Bulma Briefs has probably told you this before, so you must know that when you were first admitted to the Satan City Hospital, the person who had treated you was me."  
  
"I regret that you did, but at the time I had no power to stop you, unfortunately."  
  
"Yes, and such a sad thing it is, because it was I who found out all about your blood--the qualities, the potential power of its cells. See, unlike normal blood, you neither have an A, B, AB, or O blood type. There are proteins in your blood, but they are not specific to the common blood types, and the antibodies they create provide a barrier between you and anyone else. This makes it impossible to have a normal blood transfusion. I don't know what the hell you are, but you seem to be some sort of mutant to me…"  
  
'You have no idea just WHAT I am…'  
  
"…if you are some kind of freak, that's alright, because it is your blood that I need. The substance I have created eliminated all the deficiencies in your blood, allowing me to add proteins of my own blood choice. Therefore…"  
  
It finally struck home. The blood DuMon had been mixing--he was going to get HER blood.  
  
"…if it goes as expected, I will obtain your potential powers."  
  
"Not if I can stop you first!" The chains creaked violently as she formed an orange glow in her right palm. Aiming carefully, she fired this minute amount of energy straight towards DuMon's heart, but before it had gone two feet, it ricocheting against an invisible elector-magnetic field that had apparently been surrounding her and struck her full force in the stomach.  
  
"You are powerless against me!" Laughing maniacally, he drew the blood into a needle, posing to inject it into himself. Hesitating, he studied the figure on the chair, who breathed heavily and fresh coats of blood beginning to form from her stomach. "But I will kill you first!"  
  
Helpless, she watched as DuMon snatched a butcher's knife from his counter, and made his advance towards her. She had neither ki nor excess energy left to spare, and it was all she could to keep her eyes from closing shut. Her breathing was becoming strained; her airways constricted, and if she should pass out again, the end would be inevitable. Being confined to a chair, she had nowhere to run, except watch as the man lowed the electro-magnetic shield, raising the knife high above her.  
  
"You will never get away with this," she snarled, her breath freezing in her throat. "I swear I will hunt you down once I am dead and do away with your body!!!"  
  
He stopped, considering his last options. With one swift and precise motion, he brought the knife down--clean onto the center of her heart.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________  
  
AN: Chapters 22 and 23 were actually one big chapter, but there was a total of about 3,600 words and it was getting kinda long, so I broke it into two separate pieces… 


	24. A Demon's Hatred

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. Those and the characters were created by Akira Toriyama, so please do not sue.

**Note:** *sigh* I apologize for neglecting this. I really hope I can pick up from where I've left off, and yes, I do have intentions of completing this.  
  
  
**Chapter 24 - A Demon's Hatred**  
  
  
  
He watched as the blade sank deeper into her pale flesh, blood rushing profusely from the wound as they seeped through her clothes, staining the midnight black of the fabric into a deep crimson. Keeping a firm grip on the hilt, DuMon watched as the whites of her eyes bulged in their sockets, face contorted with a mixed of immense pain and flushed anger. Between ragged breaths and the faint _ba-dum_ of her ever slowing heartbeats, a fountain of blood would erupt from Sashima's mouth.

"Y-y-y...you will...r-regret this f-for..." Her voice gave out as the fist clenched tighter over the blade, giving it a nasty jerk upwards.

Her body twitched as she drew one last breath; slowly, her bloodstained hand dropped from the chair and hung limply at its side. _Ba-dum...ba...dum...ba..._

For a minute he did nothing but keep his eyes trained on Sashima's face, watching the blood run from her open mouth and onto the cold stone floor. At long last he straightened up, leaving the knife gauged deep into her heart at a ninety-degree angle. A slow smile began to tug at his thin lips.

"I don't think I will regret this at all, my dear."

Holding the beaker that contained the substance of Sashima's blood carefully in both hands, DuMon moved towards the back of the room, where a lone window provided a clear view of the storm which continued to increase in rage, sheets of rain almost translucent in the pitch black night. Below, the trees on the mountains whipped their branches to and fro, as if battling amongst themselves, as the water along the streams raged against its banks, spilling over. Even in the shelter of the in-cave laboratory, the howl of the wind still seemed to come in from all sides, engulfing the senses.

"With your blood, I can finally take control of the Red Ribbon Army. Then I can finally...after so many years of hard work and rebuilding...I can then finally take over the world! I will be the supreme ruler of Earth, and there will be no one strong enough to stop me!" He threw a sideways glance at Sashima's corpse, like a rag sodden with blood, still in the chair. "I owe you one, girl. You mutant..."

_"She's no mutant,"_ a cold, but curt voice issued from out of nowhere. The dim source of light in the room flickered once, twice, extinguishing itself with a hissing noise and plunging the room into darkness. Almost instantly, a chill draft blew in from the darkest corners, piercing body and soul, creating the unconscious fear felt when one is in the presence of a human.

"Who's there?!" Wheeling on his heels, DuMon reached out blindly towards the counter located at the other end of the chamber, sloshing some of Sashima's blood out of its container in the process. Hastily slamming the beaker aside, he reached down into a drawer and pulled out a handgun.

"Who's there?!" He repeated again, keeping his fingers firmly on the trigger. "Don't come near me--I'm armed!" His eyes narrowed, trying to squint through the room devoid of light. For a moment, the sound of his heart hammering in his chest was all that could be heard, until the cold voice burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"What's so damn funny?" DuMon demanded, taking a cautious step forward, his weapon still held at arm's length directly in front of him. Even though he managed to keep his voice steady, enormous beads of sweat made their way down their face, his eyes darting at speeds so quick it made one dizzy to look at him. Trembling from head to toe, his body conveyed the unmistakable message that the scientist of the Red Ribbon Army was in considerable fear. Strangely enough, DuMon himself did not know the exact cause of this fear.

_"Foolish human. Do you think a weapon such as yours will do me any harm? You humans are such great sources of entertainment and amusement..."_

"You're another mutant, aren't you? I-if you aren't a coward, show yourself!"

_"Hah! The amount of ignorance that you contain is incredible, indeed. I have yet to find someone who will exceed your level of stupidity. Very well, I will show myself..."_

It was as if all the darkness in the room were being sucked toward the center, a great swirling mass of black, making the rest of the room seem to glow in a transparent gray. Gradually, from the center of the mass, a figure much like a normal human rose from the floor, clad in shades of black, silver, and blood red. Its face, though, was still carefully concealed in the shadows, yet one could tell the demon's hair was a foggy grayish-white. A powerful aura of almost pure evil radiated from his body, almost knocking DuMon off his feet.

_"Surprised, aren't you?"_ He smirked, advancing forward. _"Unlike the girl you just killed, we live off the despair, fear, and darkness emitted from human hearts. As more fear builds in you, the stronger I get--not that I need anymore strength than what I already have..."_

"I-I'll kill you!" A series of shots rang out as DuMon fired round after round from his handgun, the bullets ricocheting harmlessly off the figure and logging themselves into the stone wall. When the gun had exhausted itself from all ammunition, a pale DuMon was left standing almost paralyzed to the cold floor.

_"What did I tell you, human?"_ His voice drawled coolly as he continued to take further steps toward the rooted DuMon. _"I'd have to say, though, I do owe you a thank you. I'd thought I would have to wait until she was taken perfectly off guard to infiltrate her system with the Black Lotus, and THEN watch the splendid results...but now with her perfectly dead, our plan will succeed faster and better than ever!"_

"J-just _what_ are you?" DuMon stammered, clutching the edge of the counter for support. His knees shook so violently, it was a wonder he managed to remain on his feet for so long.

He laughed, cold and devoid of emotion. _"**What** am I, you ask? Demon, my friendly human, demon. Yes, we do exist. You ask why I'm here? I'll tell you a little story since we're here with plenty of time to spare. Many centuries ago, the angels of Heaven and the demons of Hell fought over a hybrid of our two kinds. A thousand years ago, an angel was banished from Heaven and sent down to live on Earth. She met a demon, and in their extraordinary case, love flourished between them and they had a child--a half angel, half demon hybrid, a daughter."_ He paused, letting his words hang in the air, then continued. _"Of course, intimate contact between angel and demon was forbidden, and war was waged on both sides. For hundreds of years we fought, the bloodshed never-ending. The Earth suffered as well--during those hundreds of years, there were numerous natural disasters, famines, war, outbreaks of disease. Chaos ruled the world."_

"Unfortunately for us, the losses on our side were just too great. When the last of our demon kings was slain by the gods, we had to surrender. Since then, the angels have looked down their noses at us, and they will stop at nothing to keep us in control. They fear an uprising, yes...an uprising." Tinges of color appeared on his pale cheeks, his eyes flashing dangerously as he seemed to relive those moments. It was like the calm right before a storm was going to hit. _"You wonder, 'what will the angels have to fear, these bands of demons in Hell running around without any leadership?' I don't blame them for being worried. Over the years, we demons have regrouped; our strength has more than doubled since the wars! The angels can no longer control us...we are once again a race of our own, doing as we please, absorbing the energy from the negative emotions. But one thing has remained unchanged--our hatred of those angels and what they did to us during the war that lasted for so many centuries!"_

He glanced at DuMon for a second, suddenly breaking out into a smile. _"We have been plotting revenge for a long time now, and in this century, our greatest weapon is finally ready. The angel-demon who began the wars from the beginning has started to become highly unstable. Having lived through fifteen lives, and now in her sixteenth, she has finally showed signs of mentally breaking down. Yes...the angels have been in contact with her...they have been trying to get her to purify herself...only then can she ascend to Heaven and no longer be a threat to them. But no...her demon blood is strengthening, day by day, and anger, hate, and power only fuels her strength. Think! With her on our side, blood of BOTH kinds, we will truly succeed in our revenge!"_

Having spoken little over the course of the demon's account of their heinous plans, DuMon had been steadily inching closer to the steel door exiting the laboratory. Now only mere feet from possible safety, he realized his only possible chance was for the demon to continue talking.

"I-if what y-you say is true, and this...this angel-demon truly this powerful, how would you manage to get her to j-join your ranks?"

_"Hah! Now **that** is a problem indeed. At this moment, her soul aches for Heaven, yet that does not mean she is qualified enough to enter. No, she must get rid of the demon within, though I do not know what kind of bullshit the angels are trying to pull here. As long as there is demon blood in her, she will NEVER be pure enough to enter Heaven. BUT, what the angels do not realize is even though there is no way to get her absolutely pure, there ARE ways to say...make the demon in her take over."_

"And just w-where is this person...?" DuMon's voice quavered.

With this question, the demon smirked, showing perfectly white teeth. _"Why, she's right here."_ He jerked a thin finger over his shoulder. _"You've just killed her. Thanks to you, I will now be able to revive her and slip a dose of Black Lotus, a plant grown in the darkest and deepest regions of Hell, into her. Even in her sleep, attempting to give her any Black Lotus could prove fatal to an inexperienced demon. You've given us a perfect opportunity, and for that, I thank you."_

By this time, DuMon had reached the doors, and his hand was poised on the handle, almost ready to turn. His body was poised as if in mid-run, and his breath came in heavy huffs, as if he had just run a marathon. The sweat continued to run from his forehead, soaking the front of his shirt and giving off a foul stench.

The gray-haired demon cackled viciously. _"I have told you all too much tonight. It is now time for you to **die**."_

DuMon had already pushed open the doors, but the demon was far quicker. Extending out a hand, he had DuMon confined in a purple sphere within mere seconds, the energy generating static throughout the room. Inside the transparent sphere, DuMon was writhing in agony as his life's energy was slowly drained from him.

_"Good-bye, human."_ With a clench of his fist, the orb vanished, and a pile of smoldering ashes were all that remained of DuMon.

He turned his attention now to Sashima, drenched in her own blood from head to toe. Moving over to her, he placed both hands over the wound in her chest until a black glow surrounded the both of them, giving back her life with his own dark energy. Slowly, a dark flower formed between the palms of his hands, and this flower fell gracefully into the center of Sashima's chest.

As the last petals disappeared under the surface of her skin, her body seemed to appear lighter, until she was no longer glowing darkness. The demon stopped the energy connecting the two of them, and stepped back to survey his work.

_"Now we will leave the rest to young--"_

**BLAM!**

The door to the laboratory slammed open, falling off its hinges and scattering DuMon's ashes high into the air. An anxious and soaked Goku stood in the doorway, his eyes widening in utter shock as they traveled from Sashima, to the demon, and back again. 

* * *

**AN:** Guh, remind me never to stop writing a story for more than two and a half months and then try to continue from where I had left off. Fricken' difficult when your chain of thoughts had been broken for so long. But then again, in the meantime, I've written some poems to make up for it...I guess. Eh well, nothing makes up for leaving the [few] readers of this in suspense and having them pick up three months later. But guess what? I've finally learned how to upload an HTML document onto FanFiction.net! Hooray for me! Before, I was using the full set-- etc. etc. etc. No wonder why it didn't work. I feel stupid now. But oh well. I have much, much, more work to do! Laterz. 


End file.
